Storm Front
by Arafel
Summary: Raine and Laguna's story. A stormy night brings a wounded Galbadian soldier into a pubkeeper's life. New chapters in progress; thanks, Dissidia 012!
1. Default Chapter

_IA/N: Yes! It's back! I'm a bum, I know; I let this go for too long. This story will be reposted a chapter at a time, and there will absolutely 100% positively be a new chapter or two by the end. Those of you not willing to wait can hop over to my site and find it there. And now, on to Raine and Laguna's story..._

**Storm Front**

by Arafel 

_These kinds of days (I really miss you now)_   
_Seasons are changed again (I really miss you now)_   
_I search in vain_   
_I wonder where you are_   
_Watching the rain_   
_And it makes me remember_   
_Things I tried to say_

--"Rain," Concrete Blonde 

I think of him when the storms come. 

When the dark clouds gather on the horizon, I remember. I see him, running through the night with a child in his arms. When the wind rattles the windows of my home, I hear the storm-caught door slam behind him as he carries a little girl safely home. When I hold my arms out to the rain, I feel water slide down over my back and my face the way his hands found me in the silence, after. When I saw him, at last. When I let go. 

It was a wind-wild night in fall when he staggered into my life. Rain lashed the windows of my pub, and the wind slammed the shutters so hard against the windows that I thought they would shatter. I was downstairs, cleaning up after yet another night of Galbadian revelry. As the only source of liquor in town, my pub was the frequent haunt of the soldiers stationed in town, who poured out their drunken lives to me nightly. I've had many a beer-soaked proposal. War is unkind, and these men were scarred with it; the machismo, the exaggerated fights, the lumbering drinking songs – they all hid fear, and anger, and loneliness. It affected me deeply at first, but my own experiences and constant repetition have inured me to it by now. I have my own memories to deal with. 

Hours had passed since the last inebriated soul had been dragged off by two of his comrades to another night in the hotel. I totted up the damage – two chairs, several broken bottles, and yet another dent in the surface of the bar. A typical evening, in other words. The oil lamps flickered in the draft; my building is old and full of cracks. I peered out of the window at the storm; everyone else had long since retired, and my windows were the only ones to spill light into the street. Leaves skittered across the courtyard, hurried by the gale. I shivered and picked up the broom. Winter was coming. 

I had just finished cleaning glass off the floor when I heard a muffled thump from outside. I swore, angrily; the age of this pub means that storm damage is a constant threat. Something scratched against the façade, moving towards the door. I thought I heard a cry, but the wind was screaming fiercely around the eaves, and it drowned out most everything else. My spine crawled with nerves, since monsters infest our remote town. I crept to the bar and pulled out the knife I had concealed there. Gripping it tightly, I shadowed the door, tense. Was Esthar back, again? 

Something thumped again against the wall, and I heard scrabbling at the doorknob. My heart pounding, I thanked the powers that be that I'd had the good sense to lock it. The fumbling grew more desperate, then stopped. My knuckles were white on the hilt of the knife. The unknown presence banged insistently. I got closer to the door and put my ear up to the wood. Outside, someone yelled, "Raine! Open up! We need help!" 

The knocking was getting stronger by the moment. I recovered my senses and threw the latch to the deadbolt. I turned the knob, and as the catch drew back, a powerful gust of wind pushed the door open. I stared, eyes wide, at my unexpected visitors. 

Two Galbadian soldiers were dragging a heavily injured man with them, his arms draped over their shoulders. He was moaning in pain, and every time the soldier on the left resettled the arm in his grip, the man would scream louder, in agony. Involuntary tears of pain streamed down his face. I winced when I saw how one of his legs was twisted at an odd angle. They pulled the injured man up onto my stoop, and I recognized both bearers when the light from my door fell across their faces. Kev and Mallin, some of my better customers. They only tore the place apart on a semi-regular basis. 

The soldier on the left – Kev – spoke up. "Hey Raine. We found this guy facedown in the mud. Ya think you can look after 'im? Ya take better care of us 'n anyone else around." His pal gave me what he imagined was a winning smile. I looked at them in disgust. 

"_God_-damn it. Of course, you'd drop a problem like this on my doorstep in the dead of night." Their burden tossed his head and groaned. I stomped towards them and folded my arms, glaring. They slumped back but didn't back off. "What, did you have one brawl too many, and now you expect me to clean up?" 

"Nuh-uh," Mallin chimed in. "We don't know this guy. Kev fell over him, didn't ya, Kev?" Kev nodded. "He's gotta be okay, because he's one of our own. Maybe got in a tangle with some of those Esthar bastards." He spat, bitterly. I didn't bother scolding him for the mess. I'd seem my fair share of brutality from the invaders, and to be honest, I agreed with him. 

"Let me see this friend of yours," I commanded. 

"I told ya, we don't know him!" Mallin protested. He and Kev dragged the man into the bar, and Mallin kicked the door shut behind him. 

"Watch it!" I hissed. 

"Sorry." 

He was dressed in the ragged remnants of a Galbadian uniform. I could see that his clothes were stained with blood, and through the tears, numerous slashes gaped. He lifted his head to me, and I had one glimpse of deep green eyes before they rolled back in his head and he sagged into the soldiers' grip. Mixed water, mud, and blood ran from the wounded man onto the floor. He would need tending, and soon. The injuries looked severe, and if he did not get help, he might die by morning. 

"You know his name, guys?" I asked. 

Mallin looked at Kev. "I dunno. You know, Kev? Did he say anything to ya when you found him?" 

The other soldier scratched his head. "Nope. He didn't wake up." 

I looked more closely at the injured man and saw a glint of metal around his neck. "He's wearing ID, at least," I said, pulling the tags free of his ruined uniform. "Laguna Loire," I read, tilting the flat metal so it caught the light. "Does that name sound familiar?" 

Both soldiers shook their heads. "We never heard of him, but we'll ask around," said Mallin. 

I sighed again. "So you think you can get him upstairs for me, bucko?" 

Kev perked up. "Yeah, sure! Where you want 'im?" 

"First room on the left. Put him on the bed and I'll get to him soon." 

"Okay!" Kev hoisted the injured man higher on his shoulder. "Come on, Mallin!" They pulled the man to the stairs, none too gently. Every time the twisted leg banged into a stair, the hurt man screamed. I covered my ears and gritted my teeth. I heard their footsteps as they hauled their charge into bed, then they clattered back down, looking pleased with themselves. 

"Raine?" A little dark head poked out from the top of the stairs. "Who's here?" 

In a low voice, I growled at the soldiers, "Now look what you've done. Ellone's awake." 

She climbed down a few stairs on her knees, backing down one foot after the other in the manner of children who aren't big enough to handle stairs. The little face reappeared and pushed halfway through the railing. Ellone saw the two soldiers, still in uniform, and screamed. 

"What's the matter with her?" asked Mallin, pointing to Ellone, who was white-faced and shaking. "She never did that before." 

I ran up the stairs, scooped up the little girl, and hugged her tightly. She wrapped her arms around my neck and burst into tears. "It's okay, Ellone. They're not here for you. They're friends, remember? The blue guys are okay." She didn't look up, but I felt her trembling ease. 

I walked back downstairs with Ellone on my shoulder, her head still burrowed into my neck. The two soldiers looked dumbfounded and uncomfortable. I leaned to them and whispered, "The last time soldiers showed up in her house at night, she lost her mother and her father. You didn't do anything, but I think you can understand." 

Their faces went grim, and I knew they were remembering too. About a year ago, Esthar soldiers came looking for girls with special talents, since their ruler Adel required a malleable successor to her powers. They answered no questions and tolerated no defiance. Ellone's parents knew she was special, and they hid her well enough that the Esthar soldiers couldn't find her – but they paid for it with their lives. I took the little girl in after her parents died, much as Tallah had taken me in, years ago. 

Ellone was not the only one to lose family because of a magical talent. My family, the Leonhart line, has a rogue talent in the blood that crops up once in a while. I was not so lucky as Ellone because the soldiers found me. My talent was too weak, too sporadic to be of any use – but the soldiers killed my parents anyway, because they'd tried to protect me. You can see, then, why it was not even an issue when the orphaned Ellone was brought to me. Tallah, the original owner of this pub, had done the same. 

I rocked Ellone back and forth in my arms, trying to calm her. "I think you two had better go. I'll look after this Loire fellow." 

"Uh, thanks, Raine. We owe you one." 

"Whatever." I arched an eyebrow. "Is that all, gentlemen?" 

"Yeah!" Mallin perked up this time. "How 'bout a beer?" 

Kev smacked him in the back of the head. "Not now, dumbass. We got duty in the morning." 

"Oh yeah. Well, bye, Raine!" 

They hurried out into the night, dragging the door closed against the wicked wind. I brought Ellone back upstairs and into her room 

I brushed my hair out of my eyes and tried to regroup for the next task. This Laguna needed help. There was a small stash of hoarded medical supplies in a chest in my room, and they would have to suffice. I dragged myself down the hall and pulled the potions and a med kit out from beneath some blankets. Good gil gone to waste, I thought ruefully. Medicine was very hard to come by these days – the Esthar raiding had taken its toll on everyone in Winhill. The Esthar soldiers left death in their wake. Ellone knew this better than anyone, and so did I. 

Laguna was still only half-conscious; all the better, because I was going to have to set his breaks. He thrashed about, muttering to himself. I grabbed his broken leg, and he arched away from me in pain. The remnants of a makeshift splint stuck out awkwardly from his leg, and I pulled the wood and wrappings away. 

His shoes would have to be removed before the break could be set. I picked at the laces of his boot, but it was no use; his leg was so swollen that it would have to be cut off. I trudged back down the hall for a pair of scissors. The foot, once freed, showed early signs of gangrene. Laguna's leg was broken and had swollen to twice its normal size, partly because he'd walked to Winhill on it. I gently felt the bone, and lucky for him, it was a clean break rather than a splintered one. Once it was set, it would heal without crippling him. 

Do it fast. I took a firm grip on his ankle, braced my foot on the bottom of the bed, and pulled as hard as I could. Laguna's eyes flew open, and he screamed fit to wake the village. With a sickening pop, the bone aligned, and I let go. He panted shallowly, sweat standing out on his forehead. His eyes fluttered, and he picked his head up a bit to look at me. 

"Who…you?" he asked. 

"Your salvation," I returned, dryly. 

"Where… 'm I?" 

"In Winhill. You collapsed outside the village. Your pals didn't know where else to bring you." I put his leg down and started to splint it again between some stiff boards and bandages; he'd need a cast later, but this would do for the moment. He started to speak, and I shushed him. "Save your breath. We're not done yet." 

He groaned. I finished with his leg and moved to the head of the bed to take up his outflung wrist. His arm seemed fine, but every time I moved it in the socket, Laguna would grit his teeth. Dislocated shoulder, probably. Great. "You have to sit up, Laguna." 

He stirred weakly. "How… you know my name?" 

"Your tags." I grabbed him by the torso and hauled him up. 

"Don't know yours." 

"I'm Raine. Owner of this pub, and the resident medic, I guess." I took his arm in a firm grip. "Brace yourself." 

I tugged on his arm with all my strength. He howled, but I didn't let up till I felt the shoulder move back into place. Laguna sagged, pale as death. I pulled back the sheets to ease him back into bed and gasped at the sight of fresh blood on the covers. I fumbled for a Potion, one of the few I'd been able to stock away, and held it to his lips. 

"Laguna. Drink this." He was fading fast. "Do you hear me? Open your mouth." His head fell forward. I pulled him back and forced his mouth open, then poured the medicine down his throat. Laguna coughed, but some of his color returned. Two for good luck, I thought, and poured another one in. Through his tattered uniform, I could see that the wounds were closing. They'd have to be stitched, though. I hung my head. I was exhausted. 

Nothing to do but pull out the painkiller and start sewing. Laguna dropped off to sleep while I worked. My vision was blurring by the time I put in the last stitch and nipped off the suture. The light from the window revealed that it was almost dawn. Weary, I stripped the bloody sheets off of Laguna, and threw fresh ones over him. He was out of the woods, for now. I piled up was left of my supplies and went off to my own room, where sleep awaited. 

My own small bed beckoned, and who was I to argue? I slung the med kit into the chest, pulled off my shoes, and crawled into bed without bothering to undress. Sleep claimed me almost before my head hit the pillow. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Raine! Raine, Raine, Raine!" I groaned and rolled over in bed. Someone very insistent was tugging at the bed covers. "Wake up!" I opened one bleary eye to see a pert face framed by brown hair that badly needed to be combed about five inches from my own face. I took a deep breath and forced myself to sit up. The little girl clambered onto my bed, all smiles. 

"Morning!" she exclaimed, brightly, pulling the blankets around. The clock on the wall read eight in the morning; considering my late night, I was in no mood to be up and about. But when there's a bouncy little girl tugging at your sleeve, you don't have a lot of choice. She hopped off the bed, and with the complete lack of respect for possessions common to a three-year-old, started poking around my room. There wasn't much for her to find, so I let her play while I tried to regroup. I stumbled into the bathroom and splashed myself with cold water. My eyes were circled with black. I washed up a bit and came back out to find Ellone rooting around under the bed. 

I reached down and tugged on one pajama leg. "Come on, Elle, we have to make some breakfast." She wriggled out from under my bed, covered with dust bunnies. "Then maybe a bath. You're filthy." 

"No!" Ellone pouted. "No bath." 

"Yes bath, and let's go." I picked her up like a sack of potatoes, and she started to giggle. We went downstairs to the kitchen, and I set out three bowls and started boiling water for oatmeal. Laguna probably wouldn't be much for solid food for a while. I hung my head. Just what I needed - two babies in the house. 

I was distracted from my self-pity by Ellone, who had crawled up onto one of the kitchen chairs. Brow furrowed, she was pointing to each bowl and carefully counting. I heard her whisper, "One…two…three. Raine and Elle, one, two." She gave me a look of disgust. "Too many! Elle can count better than Raine!" 

"Three is for our visitor." I smiled at Ellone. "Someone is going to stay with us for a little while. He's very sick, so we have to be nice to him." 

"Where did he come from?" Ellone asked. 

"I don't know that yet, honey. We'll find out. Those people you saw last night brought him here so I can take care of him, just like I take care of you." 

"A baby brother?" Her face lit up. "They brought Elle a baby brother?" 

I laughed. "No, Elle, he's too old to be your baby brother. But maybe you can be friends when he feels better." 

The kettle whistled, and I busied myself with cooking up breakfast. Once the oatmeal had thickened, I stirred in some brown sugar and some raisins for Ellone. It was always a roll of the dice to give her a spoon, but I decided to let her be a big girl while I fixed up a tray for Laguna. In between trips to the cupboard and icebox, I stole bites of my own breakfast. Last night's adventures had left me with a tremendous appetite. Ellone was singing nonsense to herself as she ate, half with fingers and half with utensils. Once she'd gotten about halfway through the bowl, she put her spoon down and announced, "Done!" 

I peered in at the remainder of breakfast left untouched. "You don't get any treats later if you don't finish." She made a face at me and pouted. "Go on. Finish it. I'm going to bring this upstairs." 

The oatmeal had cooled to lukewarm by the time I reached Laguna's door. I pushed the door open and set the tray down on a nearby chair while I pulled the curtains on a window to let some light in. Laguna stirred and groaned when the light hit him. The Potions had relieved some of the swelling in his leg, and the bruises on his face were fading, so he looked a little better. I patted him on his good shoulder to wake him up, and he opened bleary eyes. 

"I brought you breakfast," I told him, helping him sit up and piling pillows behind him so he didn't fall back down. "Hope you like oatmeal." 

"Everything hurts," he mumbled, wincing. 

"I'm not surprised. Be careful, you're one mass of stitches. They'll come out in about two weeks." I sat on the chair and picked up a spoonful of the oatmeal. "Open up!" 

"Don't need to be fed…" Laguna protested weakly. He tried to reach for the bowl, but his hand shook and fell limply back into his lap. 

"I'm afraid you do," I said. "Come on. This isn't any more fun for me than it is for you." I held up a spoonful of breakfast and didn't let him turn away. In the end, Laguna was just too tired and hurting to argue, and he let me feed him. It was strange to be treating a grown man like a baby, but I had a feeling that the similarities between Laguna's care and Ellone's early years weren't going to end with one bowl of oatmeal. Laguna would need almost everything done for him until he healed enough to take care of himself. Though the Potions had pulled him back from the brink of death, he still had severe injuries, and only time would take care of them all. 

The door scraped behind me as I patiently waited for Laguna to finish a spoonful of porridge. "Elle! Not now!" I hissed, trying to wedge the door shut with my chair. Ellone scooted in anyway. "Ellone, go play in your room!" 

She paid no attention. I couldn't drop the bowl, so I was stuck. She popped up next to Laguna's bed and gave him a long, hard look. "Who are you? You're not little! I wanted a little brother to play with!" 

"Ellone!" I warned. 

She pulled herself up on the sheets and stared Laguna in the face. "You need a bath too, just like me!" 

Laguna's eyes brightened. The first smile I'd seen from him crept across his face despite the terrible pain he was in. "Probably right. What's your name?" 

"Ellone. What's yours?" 

"Laguna." 

"La-goonah." She rolled the unfamiliar name around in her mouth. Ellone slid back down and glared at him. "Yoo better play with me. I wanted a brother!" 

He breathed a painful laugh. "You bet." 

Ellone nodded, once, then scrambled out of Laguna's bedroom. He looked at the door after she left, still smiling. "Your…daughter?" 

"Yes," I replied, holding the spoon out again. "Not biologically, though. She's the daughter of my heart. Her parents were killed by Esthar during one of their raids." 

"How sad… poor Ellone," Laguna said. "Can she come back?" 

"Sure, but I'll have to tell her to go easy on you. You're in no shape for most Ellone-games. If you aren't careful, you won't heal." 

"Yes, doctor." He lay back down on the pillows, exhausted. The simple act of eating had tired him out considerably. I'd rouse him later to clean him up, but sleep was what he needed. By the time I finished piling dishes and dirty utensils on the tray, he was fast asleep. His chest rose and fell regularly with deep breaths, and his hair tumbled carelessly across the clean linen pillowcase. Odd that a soldier should have such long hair – I'd have thought it would get in the way of the sharp-faced helm the Galbadian soldiers seemed to favor. Rather nice face to go with the hair, too. Now that the bruises had started to fade thanks to the Potions, he was revealed to be handsome… in a boyish way. Laguna's looks were still marred by a nasty black eye, but he'd get over it. 

I stared for a long moment, then shook myself. Such silly thoughts. There was work to be done and a little girl who needed her bath. I pulled the curtains at the window and left Laguna to rest. 

The morning flew by. There was Ellone to deal with, and she was her usual delightful self when I tried to wash her hair. Young children and cats have the same affinity for water. Then it was off to the shop for some more provisions for the pub. As I left, my usual "shadow" followed me at a distance; there are a lot of monsters in Winhill and my popularity with the soldiers assured me of an escort. A quick consultation with Anna in the village produced supplies I needed for my patient, such as several doses of strong painkillers, plaster and heavy wrappings for a cast, and antibiotics. Last stop was at another shop for a Hi-Potion, which left my purse considerably lighter. I scolded myself for being too softhearted but bought it anyway. By the time we were finished, Ellone was fussy and more than ready to go home. It was past lunchtime, and both she and Laguna needed to be fed. At least one of them was semi-capable of doing it herself. 

I fixed Ellone a sandwich, with the crusts cut off of course, then heated up some soup for Laguna. "Want to come with you!" Ellone chirped, watching me prepare a tray. "Please, please, please!" 

"Not now, Ellone," I said, lifting up the tray. "Mr. Laguna is very hurt and he needs rest. Maybe when he's better, okay?" 

"When will that be?" Ellone pouted. "Tomorrow?" 

I shook my head. "I don't know, honey," I said. " I really don't know." 

Laguna was half-awake when I opened the door to his room, muttering to himself and stirring restlessly in the sheets. I put the tray down and laid a hand on his forehead; he felt overly warm and feverish. He opened clouded eyes at my touch, groaning low in his throat. I pulled off the sheets and inspected his wounds; some looked inflamed and one or two were seeping blood. 

"Hurts," he moaned, breathing heavily. I saw tears gather at the corners of his eyes and spill down onto the pillow. "Hyne… my leg… please help me…" 

"It's all right," I said, trying to soothe him. "I'll be right back." 

The cooling soup forgotten, I raced downstairs to gather up the Hi-Potion, the antibiotic, and a dose of morphine. Hair flying, I hurried back up to his room, clutching the precious medicines in my hands. I sat down next to him and cradled his head in my arms, trying to get a firm grip on him, and uncorked the Hi-Potion. He thrashed around, threatening to upset the Potion. 

"Laguna," I said, firmly, holding the Potion up to his lips. "Drink this, now. Come on." I tipped the bottle towards him, and he coughed and swallowed weakly. "That's it," I coaxed. "Finish it all." Laguna tried to pull away, panting, but I held on and forced the bottle back to his mouth. "Now, Laguna. Don't do this. You'll feel better." I tilted the bottle back again, and he slowly drank what remained. 

Laguna closed his eyes, leaning back into my arms, and I felt him relax. "Better?" I asked, and he nodded. "Good. I have something for you to eat." I wriggled out from under him and sat him up in bed, well cushioned in pillows. 

"More oatmeal?" he asked, showing a spark of interest. 

"No, soup this time." I held up the spoon. "Open up." Perhaps he was tired, but Laguna didn't fight me this time as I fed him. 

"Tastes good," he mumbled in between spoonfuls. 

"Thank you," I replied. "I made it." The bowl was soon empty, and I put it back on the tray and picked up the antibiotic. "You have to take this pill. Some of your cuts are infected." He let me give him the pill and gulped it down with some water. "How are you feeling? Still hurting?" 

"Yeah," Laguna said. "It's a little better, though." 

"Do you want some painkiller?" I held up the syringe. "I promise you won't be hurting at all after this." 

"Not a needle…" he groaned. "I hate needles." 

"Suit yourself, then," I said, tidying up. "I'll be back later if you change your mind." 

I had to give Laguna some credit – it was almost an hour before he started to call for me. The numbing effects of the Potion wouldn't last too long, as I knew, but I preferred to let Laguna find that out for himself. I went back into his room to find him glassy-eyed with pain. 

"Do you want the shot?" I asked, checking the syringe for air bubbles and finding none. 

"Please," he whispered hoarsely. 

"All right." I bent down to roll Laguna over onto his side, and he struggled. 

"What are you doing? Don't you usually get a shot in the arm?" 

"No, not this one. I can't give it to you there; it has to go elsewhere." He blushed furiously and protested. Oh, come on," I said crossly. "You're a grown man. Enough. Would you rather be in pain?" 

"No," Laguna replied, sounding sulky. "Can't a man have some privacy though?" 

I rolled my eyes. "Laguna, I've already seen more of you than I care to. Who do you think stitched up your wounds last night?" Laguna dug his head into the pillows, mortified. "Stop fighting with me and roll over." 

I rolled him over onto his good shoulder and took out an alcohol-soaked pad. "I'll be quick," I promised, and pulled down the waistband of his shorts just enough to expose the right place for the needle. It went in smoothly, though Laguna yelled like a child at the stick. I ignored him and depressed the plunger. Indignity or not, he'd stop hurting and he'd sleep like the dead after this. 

"Feeling better yet?" I asked, moving him back into bed. Laguna's face was relaxing and his eyes were clearing. 

"Thank you," he said. "Much better." 

"Good. I'll come to check on you later." I gathered up the empty syringe, capped it, and put everything back on the tray. "Anything else?" 

Laguna looked decidedly better, though his gaze was wandering all over. "Pretty lady," he murmured, looking over at me. Belatedly, I remembered that the side effects of morphine were hallucinations and delirium. He laughed, softly, "Pretty lady saves my ass. Kiros… Ward… I'm so sorry…" Another tear slid down his cheek and he closed his eyes. While I stood there, frozen, he fell asleep, snoring heavily. 

I shook myself all over and picked up the tray to go back downstairs. If I didn't get started on dinner, the hungry hordes bound to invade sooner or later would be climbing the walls when they arrived. Laguna's slurred comment followed me around in the back of my head the whole time, like a fly you just can't shoo away. _Pretty lady_… 

The pub was, as usual, crowded and busy. I worried that the noise would wake Laguna up, but he never moved in all the times I went upstairs to check on him. The soldiers were full of questions about my patient, but there was nothing to tell them beyond what they knew already: he was going to live and he was sleeping. It was with great relief that I announced last call and shortly thereafter chased all the men out into the night. My second day with Laguna ended much like the first, with an exhausted collapse into bed and dreamless sleep. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Things went more smoothly after the first awkward day with Laguna. I was never entirely comfortable with my role as nurse, but like most people in the medical profession will tell you, experience inures you to most indignities. It was easiest when Laguna wasn't in any shape to complain, but nevertheless it was a good sign when he began to be able to hold a conversation and move around a little bit on his own. 

Ellone's fascination with our visitor had only intensified since I had forbidden her to bother him on the first day. She hovered around the door, furtively trying to look inside every time the door was opened. Still, Ellone was good enough about leaving Laguna alone that I thought I could leave her home with a sitter one day while I went out on errands. Some of the kinder-minded soldiers could be enticed into staying in the pub and looking after Ellone if they were promised free drinks, and today was no exception. 

It was mid-afternoon by the time I was finished. I hurried home. When I arrived back at the pub, the soldier I'd sweet-talked – I think his name was Tomas – was sitting all alone in the common room, playing solitaire. He greeted me as I struggled in the door with all my bundles. 

"Hi, Raine," the soldier said, cheerfully. "Hey – let me help you with that." He grabbed a few packages from me before they could drop to the floor and helped me get some things into the kitchen. 

"How's Ellone? Did she behave for you?" I asked, hauling flour into a closet. 

He shook his head. "Good as gold. She's doin' something up there, and she's happy as a clam. Heard her talking to someone." 

"Oh good grief." I stopped stacking cans and buried my face in my hands. "Laguna. She's bothering Laguna. She got herself into his room." 

"That the guy Kev and Mallin found?" Tomas looked pleased at the prospect of a little gossip. 

"Yes. You can go tell your buddies that he's going to live, so don't worry." 

"Who is he? Did you find out anything?" 

"No. He's still too weak to talk much. I'll keep you informed." 

"Right, then." Tomas threw me a salute and left, whistling. I grabbed the usual doses of medicine for my patient and climbed the stairs to Laguna's room, dreading what I was going to find. Inside, I heard Elle chirping happily away at Laguna, and his subdued but enthusiastic responses. I pushed open the door, and Ellone looked up and squeaked. I stared at the mess on the floor – she must have dragged every toy in her toy box inside to play with. Dolls, blocks, and game pieces were tumbled all over, and a few stuffed animals peeked out from behind the wreck of Laguna's legs. 

"Ellone!" I said, sharply. "You know you were supposed to leave Laguna alone! You were very disobedient and you sneaked into his room while I was out!" 

Ellone's lip trembled. "Wanted to play with Mr. Laguna!" she protested, looking guilty. 

Laguna stirred. "'S okay, Raine," he said. "I let her stay. She's a good girl. She would'a left if I'd asked her to." Ellone beamed. He didn't look too well – there were deep shadows under his eyes and he was pale. The set of his mouth spoke of suppressed pain, and it must have been a heroic effort for him to play with Ellone in his injured state. "But we had a good time, didn't we?" 

I sighed, resigned. "Clean up your toys, Ellone. It's a mess in here and I have to help Laguna." She halfheartedly picked her stuffed moogle up by the leg and started dragging it out the door. I put down my load of medicines and started throwing blocks into their storage bucket. Ellone came back and picked up another small toy, ostentatiously displaying her tremendous displeasure at being chased out. I called over my shoulder, "You can carry more than that. Knock it off, Ellone, or you get to spend some time in your room to think about it." She picked up something else and left again. 

"You sound like my mother," Laguna murmured, dropping back down onto the pillows. 

"I am her mother, for all intents and purposes," I returned, "and she knows better than that. She was supposed to leave you alone. You look like death warmed over." 

"It's all right," he mumbled, clearly exhausted. "She's a special kid. I like her. Don't scold her too much." 

"I'll think about it." I handed him an antibiotic; he'd progressed enough to be able to take it by himself. 

"Another one?" Laguna groaned. "All you do is feed me pills. Dinner would be better." 

"Don't complain. Would you rather get an infection?" I said, holding up a glass. "Drink. I'll get you something to eat in a few minutes." 

"Can you change the pillows around too? This one's kind of lumpy," he said, wriggling against the pile. "And maybe another blanket." 

Patience started to wear thin. "Okay." 

"When do the stitches come out? How many days? You don't know how itchy they get, and I can't scratch." He tried to move his leg into a more comfortable position and hissed at the pain that came with it. "And my leg hurts again. A lot." 

A muscle jumped in my cheek. Somehow I doubted that he would be getting such loving care from the army. "Stitches come out in a week. I'll clean them for you after you eat and then they'll stop itching. You can have another dose of painkiller in about four hours. Until then, buck up." 

"Cruel woman," he muttered. 

"Cruel nothing," I said, resisting the urge to thump him on the bad leg and really give him something to complain about. "I don't need to put you in rehab for morphine addiction as well as nurse you back to health. Deal with it." 

"Hmph." Laguna nestled into the pillows and sulked. 

"Tired and cranky children need sleep," I said silkily. "Why don't you try and nap while I fix you something?" 

"I'm not tired," he said, eyelids already drooping. I just shook my head and picked up my things. Despite his protests, he was nearly asleep by the time I closed the door; Ellone had worn him out. She was still moping in her room, but she'd be out soon enough. I knew I couldn't keep her out of Laguna's room if that's where she wanted to be, but as long as she learned a little propriety, it would probably be fine. 

It didn't take too long to fix up something for my patient; one of the benefits of a busy tavern is a lot of leftovers. Ellone came down to the kitchen while I was heating some stew in a pot and started to play quietly on the floor. I sighed and looked up at the clock – it was getting on towards evening and I had better start fixing something up for the inevitable crowd. Laguna didn't need me to be there all the time, but he'd need a quick way to let me know if he needed something. An idea dawned on me. Perhaps there was a way to let Ellone be useful and stay near Laguna without her having to be a pest. 

"Ellone!" She looked up at me, all bright eyes. "Do you want to help me to help Laguna?" 

"Yeah!" she said, jumping up. "Elle is a good helper!" 

"Let's go upstairs and visit Laguna, and then you can help." 

She tagged along as I carefully carried the tray up the stairs. We opened the door, and I put the tray down and shook Laguna awake. He blinked at me blearily, but a low growl from his stomach woke him up quickly. 

"Smells great." He struggled to sit up, wincing every time his leg moved. "What is it?" 

"Beef stew," I replied. "Good for what ails you." 

I moved a small table over next to the bed so he could reach it easily. He had graduated to being able to feed himself, for which I was grateful. "Is Ellone with you?" he asked, looking around. 

"She is, and she's going to be a big help. Right, Ellone?" 

"Right!" Ellone pulled herself up on the bed and waved. "Hi, Mr. Laguna!" 

"Hi, Ellone." He reached out and tousled her hair. She glared at him and smoothed it all back down. I chuckled a little at her pro forma protests – Ellone liked attention in just about any form she could get. 

"So. I have to start making dinner for the hungry hordes that are going to descend on this pub in about three hours," I told him. "Ellone here is going to stay here with you and tell me when you're done with dinner." Ellone looked proud. "If you need anything, she can come and get me, since you obviously can't. Okay?" 

"Okay." Laguna replied, brightening up. He beckoned to Ellone. "Want to sit up here with me?" 

Ellone nodded and threw herself at the bed. "Watch the leg," I warned him. "And your stitches." 

"Sure thing, doctor," he replied. I left them alone and went back to work. The usual tasks of chopping vegetables and slicing meat kept my hands busy, but my mind was free to wander. I thought wistfully of the time before the war, when I had a flower shop instead of a bar, and every day was filled with the scent of lilies instead of the aroma of cooking food and spilled beer. When the flower shop stopped turning a profit, I left it to the old woman Anna and her husband, and took up the task of Tallah's old pub instead – where I'd grown up. Though the soldiers weren't a welcome presence in our peaceful town, they did bring their wages with them, and Ellone and I needed that money. And so I went through the routine every night – make an enormous pot of something and draw pints till my arms were sore. How the added burden of a large patient was going to factor into all this was still unclear to me. 

Little feet thumped down the stairs, and I put down my knife. Ellone peeked around the door to the kitchen and announced, "He's done! Am I a good girl?" 

I picked her up and hugged her. "Yes, you are. Let's go clean up." 

Elle bounced up the stairs, singing, "Here I come, Mr. Lagu-na!" She darted inside his room, giggling. 

"Elle!" I heard him say. "You were gone for soooo long that I started to miss you!" 

More giggles. "I gotta take care of you now!" Ellone said, trying to sound very grown-up. "Raine says I can be your nurse!" 

"That's great!" Laguna said. "But no needles, okay?" 

From my silent post outside the door, I saw Ellone shake her head until her hair flew. "No needles! Owwwwie!" They both began to laugh. 

Smiling, I joined them inside. "Okay, you two, just a minute. Are you all done, Laguna? Do you want anything else? Are you still hungry?" 

"Nah, I had enough, thanks." Laguna handed over his tray to me. "Your cooking's a hell of a lot better 'n we get in the army, that's for sure." 

"Hell, hell, hell! You said a bad word!" Ellone chirped with glee. 

"Ellone, don't say that," I scolded. "Nice people don't say bad words." 

"Isn't Mr. Laguna nice?" She cuddled up to his side. "_I_ think he's nice." 

"Sometimes nice people have bad habits," I replied, glaring at Laguna, who looked slightly abashed. "Watch your mouth," I admonished, shaking a finger at him. "Little pitchers have big ears. Don't swear around Ellone." 

"Sorry," Laguna said. "I'll behave." 

"You got a scolding!" Ellone shook her finger at him in imitation of me. "You were _bad!_ Better be careful, 'cause if you're really bad you get a _spanking_." She screwed up her face at him. "You don't want Raine to _spank_ you, do you?" 

Laguna tried desperately not to laugh as I turned crimson. I could practically see the thoughts racing through his head. "I think Mr. Laguna gets the point, Elle," I said, trying to salvage my dignity. "Let's leave him alone now." 

"Aww!" she said, sticking out her lower lip. Laguna's eyes were slightly teary with mirth, but he didn't say a word. 

"Go on, Ellone, scoot." She reluctantly got down off the bed and left. Detachment. I needed detachment at the moment. "Are you sure you don't need anything else before I leave?" I said, trying not to look Laguna in the face. 

"My leg still hurts. Is it time for the shot yet?" 

It was a little early, but… "I guess so." I got a syringe from my room and went back into his. "You know the drill. Roll over." 

"Dunno about that," he said, as I helped him over onto his front. "You're not gonna… spank me, are you?" Laguna wore an innocent expression, but his eyes were dancing. 

My cheeks burned. "You're going to get something a lot worse if you don't knock it off." I flicked the tip of the needle and swabbed his skin with alcohol. 

"Could be fun—OW!" I gave him a vicious but quick jab with the needle and injected the medicine. He gave me a sullen sidelong look, rubbing the injured spot on his backside. "That hurt!" 

"Good," I said. "That big mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble, if it hasn't already." 

"'S what Kiros always said 'bout me," he said, starting to drift off on the medicine. "Talk first, think later." 

"A perceptive man, your friend," I said, and left him to his thoughts. 

Days passed swiftly, and fall began to turn to winter. Laguna was on the mend, and while he had his good days and his bad days, it was clear that the injuries both internal and external were healing. The first month was tremendously draining, since Laguna continued to require doses of morphine, which sometimes put him to sleep and sometimes made him hallucinate. I kept Ellone away from him while he was raving, and it was fortunate that the state of his leg and the internal injuries made him too weak to get up during the bad spells. In time, subsequent doses of Potions made more dealings to get morphine unnecessary, and Laguna was able to get by with less powerful medicine. 

Laguna was not a good patient, once he was lucid enough to really start voicing his likes and dislikes – sometimes I wasn't sure who was three years old, him or Ellone. The removal of the stitches improved his humor because he could finally take a real bath instead of me having to sponge him down so the stitches didn't get wet. Laguna wore a solid cast on his leg, which he didn't like either, but there was nothing else to be done about it, as I reminded him often. No one in the village knew the powerful magic needed to restore an entire body immediately, and the soldiers didn't volunteer. 

While he was grateful to me for saving his life, restlessness and frustration at being so needy ate at him, and his temper was uncertain. I alternated between feeling sorry for Laguna and wanting to shake him until his teeth rattled, but Ellone adored her new friend, and he adored her right back. It wasn't too long before she was calling him "Uncle Laguna," a form of address that made me uneasy; it spoke of permanence, and I wasn't sure that he was going to stay here for too long after his injuries healed. Ellone had lost enough in her life, and she had latched onto Laguna as a father figure. He seemed to enjoy it, though, and for all that she was little and he wasn't, they had a charming rapport. The more cynical portion of my mind whispered that they seemed to be about on the same level, intellectually. 

Talking to Laguna was an exercise in patience, since he rarely stayed on one subject for long and evaded all attempts at a serious conversation. I'd managed to gather that he had been drafted into the army, had gotten himself in trouble more than once, and had lost his comrades in what must have been a spectacularly botched escapade. He didn't come out and say any of that, of course – Laguna embellished every story with outrageous exploits, and it required some reading between the lines. I had some inkling that this was what put him on my doorstep, though it was difficult to say. Sometimes shadows crossed his face when he spoke of his friends, and I began to realize that he had more history than he cared to admit. Sometimes people deal with their problems by affecting a carefree exterior, and he seemed to be one of them. 

Having Laguna around was a godsend in one respect, though – he helped to entertain Ellone. Discipline was still entirely up to me, though, because his happy-go-lucky attitude made it impossible for any severity he meted out to Ellone to stick. Laguna would try to put on a serious face, and Ellone would pretend to pout, and then both of them would start to laugh. All the same, he kept an eye on her, and she was more than content to stay in his company while I did my chores. She was diligent in her nursing, always letting me know if Laguna was hungry or hurting or tired when I was unable to tend him directly. 

Winter tightened its iron grip on my little village, and Solstice came and went. Laguna was not yet healed enough to manage crutches and get out of bed, so we brought the celebration in to him for a while. Ellone made a great show of presenting some of her crayon drawings to him as a gift, and he gravely examined each one and pronounced them genius work. She had refused to show them to me, working in great secrecy, and I leaned over curiously to look at the pictures as Laguna turned through them. Most were little-girl scrawlies – a cat and a dog, a chocobo, trees and sunshine. 

The last one made me sit up in surprise, though. In it, a small girl-figure was standing between a mommy-figure and a daddy-figure, holding hands. The mommy was recognizable as myself, with long, dark hair – and the daddy was Laguna. Ellone had been as careful with the representation as three-year-old skills would allow, giving his bright, exaggerated face green dots for eyes and shoulder-length hair. She had even drawn in the ever-present ID tags. Laguna quirked an eyebrow at me when he saw it, and I laughed nervously. It was all Ellone's idea. I hoped he understood that. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

January and first snowfall. I watched fat flakes settle softly on the slate roof of the pub from the window in Laguna's room, enjoying a rare quiet moment. Laguna was dozing, and the little room felt cozy and warm for his presence, even if he was most tolerable when sleeping. I leaned against the window frame, letting my mind drift with the blowing snow, not really paying attention to anything but the silence. 

Motion in the bed behind me, caught out of the corner of my eye, brought me out of my reverie. I turned to see Laguna sitting up in bed, watching me. 

"What?" I said, unnerved. 

"Nothing," he replied, quickly. "Snow's pretty, isn't it?" He leaned forward and propped himself up on his good knee. "Wish I could get out of this bed and go out in it. I bet me and Ellone'd have a great time in that snow." 

"If you want to try getting up again, I'll go get the crutches," I said. "We'll see if you have any better luck than you did a week ago." 

"Hey, I almost made it that time!" Laguna protested. "If you hadn't interrupted…" 

I cut in smoothly. "If I hadn't interrupted, you would have fallen flat on your face." He made a face. "Do you want me to go get the crutches?" 

"Yeah." Laguna looked out at the snow. "I really wanna get up and get out. Just for a little while." 

"All right, I'll be back in a moment." I tossed a glance back over my shoulder. "Are you sure?" 

"Uh-huh." 

The crutches were in a cupboard under the stairs. Ellone saw me grab them and left her toys to come cheer Laguna on. "Uncle Laguna's gonna walk!" she sang, swinging her moogle by the arm. 

"Maybe," I amended. 

By the time the two of us got back to his room, Laguna had already tossed off his blankets and maneuvered his pajama-clad legs over the edge of the bed. It surprised me to see how thin he'd become since he was dumped on my doorstep, but there was a steely spark in his eyes that spoke of tremendous determination. I smiled to myself. Maybe he _would_ get up this time. 

"All right, Laguna," I said, standing next to him with one crutch. "Let's go." He grabbed on to me and I wrapped an arm around his shoulders, helping to haul him up. "Here's one crutch." 

"Okay…" he said, wobbling on the good leg. I braced myself – this was where we'd left off before. 

"Lean on the crutch," I warned. "Now. The other one." I fixed it under his other arm, and cautiously let go of him to see if he could maintain his balance. Laguna's arms were shaking with the effort, but his jaw was set. 

"I can do this," he muttered, clenching his fingers around the soft padding on the hand-grips. Breath whistling through his teeth, he put all his weight on the good leg as I let go – and stayed up. 

"Yaaaaay!" Ellone cheered, bouncing on Laguna's bed. "You can walk!" 

"Getting there, Elle," he said. 

"Can you use them?" I asked. "Try to take a step or two. I'll be right here if you need a hand." 

"Gonna try." Laguna gritted his teeth and swung the crutches ahead of him a few inches. Slowly, his leg followed. "Yeah!" he breathed. "Again!" Another step, and another. When he was almost at the door, he stopped and looked back at us, grinning triumphantly. 

"You did it, you did it!" Ellone sang, jumping up and down. "Now you can come outside and play with me!" 

"Toldja I could!" Laguna replied, just as one crutch began to wobble. "Soon I'll be out there and we can build a fort, just like I told you about!" 

"Hold up there, soldier," I said, steadying him before he could lose the precarious control he'd gained. "Not today. And I really wouldn't recommend going outside in that cast. I think that's enough for now." 

We worked our way back to the bed, and Laguna sat down hard. Ellone crawled over next to him, and she giggled as Laguna tousled her hair. "Gonna need some stuff," he said. 

"Such as?" 

"Clothes. Real clothes," Laguna said, wrinkling his nose at his pajamas. "Shoes, too. I can't go out like this." 

"One thing at a time." I picked up the crutches and stood them against the wall, within easy reach. "Do you have any personal effects with the army? I imagine that if I went to the garrison, I could send out for them. It's not like you're in any condition to re-join them soon, anyway." 

"Probably, but I don't know if clothes are part of 'em." He considered for a moment. "Where's the pack I had when I got dragged in here?" 

"I think it's in the closet," I said, opening the door and rummaging inside. In the back I found a battered case with the remnants of his Galbadian uniform. I pulled it out and held it up. "Is this it?" 

"Yeah," Laguna said, reaching for it. He opened a zippered pouch on the back and pulled out a wad of gil notes, counting them quickly. "Not as much here as I remember, but anyway…" He peeled off a bundle of gil and handed them to me. "Is a thousand enough? I have more if you need it." 

I stared at the money in my hand, a little perplexed. "What do you need?" 

"_Clothes_," he said, impatiently. "A coat. Socks, shoes, all that. Can you get 'em for me?" Laguna grinned up at me through a fall of black hair. "I'm not stayin' up here forever!" 

"I think so," I said slowly. "I don't think it'll cost this much, though." 

"Aw, don't worry about it," Laguna said, waving a dismissing hand. "Whatever it takes, and maybe you can buy Ellone something with the rest." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Plus I guess I owe you for all the medical care, right?" 

"A present, a present!" Ellone cheered. "Uncle Laguna's gonna buy me a present!" 

"No amount you could pay me would make up for your care," I remarked dryly. "I'm sure there's something else you can do when you're well. Don't worry about the money." 

"Well, okay then. But you better be quick about the clothes, 'cause I'm gonna be out there sooner than you think!" Laguna swung his legs back up onto the bed. "It's just a matter of time." 

He wasn't kidding. As I was fast learning, Laguna could be very persistent when he wasn't being silly. Every day he got a little farther and lasted a little longer on his crutches. Within a few days, he had been able to get down the stairs. In two weeks, Laguna was all over the pub, in high spirits. 

The remains of Laguna's uniform had furnished me with a set of measurements to take to the shops and to the tailor, and within a few days I presented him with brand-new pants and shirts, most of them army surplus. A pair of black boots had likewise come from the garrison; it seemed easiest to stick with what I knew fit him, and I still had the one intact boot from his first night with me. I'd had enough money to purchase sweaters and a coat as well. At Laguna's repeated insistence, and over my protests of spoiling Ellone, I bought her a few games she could play with him. 

It wasn't long before his latest accomplishment wore off and Laguna began to chafe at the cast on his leg. His new mobility had restored some sense of manly pride and he wanted to be his old self, right away. Despite my repeated warnings to wait for Winhill's traveling physician to come and scan his leg to be sure the bone had knit, Laguna insisted on trying to put some weight on the leg while he was still on crutches. I yelled at him, certain he was going to undo a good portion of the healing I'd effected, and he yelled right back that I was being a worry-wart and overly cautious. 

The matter was settled shortly thereafter when Dr. Lifchure came by a week later with her diagnostic equipment. She'd been a friend of mine for some time, and it was as a personal favor to me that she loaded her sensitive instruments up and trekked down to Winhill from Deling City. It was good to see her again, and I told her so. 

"Nice to see you again too, Raine," she said, hugging me warmly. "Where's the patient?" 

"Upstairs," I said. "He's playing with Ellone. I know he's been on pins and needles awaiting your arrival." 

"Hmmm." She gave me a sidelong look. "It's not like you to take in charity cases. What gives?" 

I snorted. "Laguna was dumped on my doorstep in the middle of the night. What else was I going to do? Turn him away?" 

"I suppose not." Dr. Lifchure picked up her portable X-ray, and turned to me. "Shall we go?" 

We went upstairs to Ellone's room, where the two of them were playing some very complicated card game that Ellone had devised. Laguna perked up at once to see me come in with my friend. He grabbed a crutch and scrambled to his feet. "You must be Raine's doctor-friend!" he exclaimed, extending a hand. "I'm Laguna Loire. Nice to meetcha." 

"Dr. Becai Lifchure," she replied, meeting his outstretched hand. "I understand you want your cast off." 

"Like crazy!" Laguna said, giving the gray plaster a disgusted look. "Seems like I've been in this thing forever!" 

"If you come with me, we'll have a look inside and see if the break has healed. Where's your room?" 

"Across the hall," he said. "Let's go!" 

A few minutes later, Becai had her machine set up to scan his leg. Laguna was doing his best not to bounce, but like Ellone, he had a lot of trouble controlling his enthusiasm. 

"Would you please _sit still_?" she asked, a slight snap to her tone. 

"Sorry!" Laguna replied, giving her a winning smile. 

"And… go." The instrument flickered to life, and Laguna's bones sprung into ghostly view on the monitor. Becai hummed to herself while pressing buttons and turning knobs, checking the site of the break carefully. After several minutes, she switched off the machine and stood back. Laguna's eyes were wide with query. 

"So?" he asked, imploring. 

"You're all set," she said. "Nicely healed and getting stronger. We can take the cast off whenever you want." 

"Yahoo!" Laguna whooped. He shot me a look. "I knew you were mother-henning me!" 

Becai gave him a stern look. "Raine did a very fine job with your leg. If she hadn't 'mother-henned' you the way she did, you'd be a cripple or worse. You'll still have to do some work to get the bad leg up to speed." She turned to me. "Raine, I'll leave you with some plans for parallel bars. He'll need them for practice before he can walk unassisted." 

"Shouldn't be too hard to get those made," I said. "What else?" 

"Make sure he does the physical therapy." 

"What about my cast?" Laguna broke in. "Are you gonna take it off? Plllease?" 

Becai looked at Laguna, who was all puppy-dog eyes, and I saw the corner of her mouth twist with humor. "Oh, I don't know. I think us girls might want to go have lunch first." 

I tried not to laugh. "Yes, I think you might need some more… how was it? Mother-henning?" 

"Awwww… come on!" 

"In a bit, in a bit," she said airily. "Let's go, Raine." Laughing, we left the room, hearing Laguna swear behind us. I'd rat him out later for cursing with Ellone nearby, but for now it was too much fun to have a girl friend around to gossip with. We went down to the hotel restaurant for a bite to eat – a nice change from my own cooking. We talked a lot over lunch, reminiscing and laughing. Then, as I knew Becai would, she brought up the subject of Laguna – and not as a patient. 

"So aren't you the lucky one!" she said, laughing. "How many people have such a cute guy thrown into their life? And he's so vulnerable, so dependent on you…" She made big cow eyes at me, and I scowled. 

"Mostly, Laguna's a pain in the rear end," I said, crossly. "He has nice eyes. Big deal. I'd still like to kick his ass from here into next week most of the time. Plus…" I sighed, heavily. "He'll leave once his injuries are healed completely. I don't think he wants to stay in Winhill." I shrugged and picked at my entrée. 

"I don't know," she said, looking coy. "You could give him a reason to stay. I get this feeling that he likes you." 

"Oh, knock it off, Becai." I swatted at her with my napkin, and she laughed. "Do your job and stop trying to set me up." 

"If you don't want him, can I have him?" Seeing my murderous look, Becai grinned. "Ahhh… the truth comes out. You'll have to face it sooner or later, Raine dear. But… in your own time." She stood up and wiped her mouth. "Let's go back. I think your soldier is about ready to climb the walls. Let's not torture him any more." 

"Truth?" I got up and hurried after her, annoyed. "What do you mean about the truth! He drives me nuts!" 

"Exactly!" she called back. 

"Becai, you're a pest, you know that?" 

"I just tell it like I see it," she responded. 

We walked through town together, reached the door of the pub, and went inside. It was ominously quiet upstairs. Becai pulled a rotating saw out of her bag and tested it to make sure it worked. "Let's go get that cast off Laguna before he really gets upset," she said. 

"Yeah…" I said, "But it was completely worth it to put him on the hot seat for a while. He rattles my cage so often that I'm happy to return the favor." 

Laguna glared at both of us when we came through his door, and I had to suppress a smile. "How was lunch? Did you enjoy leaving poor defenseless me behind to suffer in this cast some more?" 

"It was very nice, thank you, and now it's your turn. Blankets off the leg." Becai turned on her saw, and the keening whine filled the room. "Hold still and this won't hurt a bit." 

"Famous last words," Laguna muttered. The shrill scream of the blade deepened as it cut into plaster. It didn't take long for Becai to slice the cast off, pulling the thick white remnants away. Deprived of its protective shell, Laguna's leg looked thin and wasted, and he regarded it in dismay. 

"It looks awful," he said, sounding disheartened. 

Becai gave him a sympathetic look. "You'll have to use your crutches for support until the leg can comfortably hold your weight," she said. "Also, I'll be giving Raine plans for parallel bars, where you can work on walking without putting too much stress on yourself." 

"Thanks," I said, taking the sheets of paper from her. "This shouldn't be too hard to do." 

"Anytime. It was nice to get away from Deling City for a while." Becai grinned. "Now, are you going to show me around, or do I spend the rest of my stay playing cards with Ellone?" 

Becai spent another three days with us, generously helping the townspeople and updating Ellone's booster shots. Ellone wasn't thrilled about that, but it was necessary. Laguna, Ellone, and I saw her off, waving goodbye as her car disappeared. Before she left, she whispered to me, "Don't write your soldier off too soon – you never know!" 

"Like hell," I said, arching an eyebrow. "That'll be the day." 

I took Becai's plans to the local woodworker, and within the week Laguna had started to walk, albeit with assistance. Though I could see the pain it caused him to put the atrophied leg down, he stubbornly persisted. We ran through the strengthening exercises again and again. 

And at night, long past the hours of normal sleep, I heard him next door to my room, working through the weakness. Working so he could walk; working so he could move on and leave us behind. I rolled myself into a ball and tried to ignore the heartache the thought brought. 

"Becai was right," I said to myself, as a tear slid down onto my pillow. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"It's snowing, it's snowing again!"

I looked up from my post in the kitchen towards the source of the sound. Ellone had her face pressed to the glass of the window, wide-eyed with wonder. Snow again? It didn't snow often in Winhill, and the previous fall had melted before Laguna had been able to get outside to build the snow fort he'd promised to Ellone.

"It's snowing?" Laguna's voice drifted in from the common room, and he hurried in to join her at the window. He was walking with a limp, but the crutches and the physical therapy were a thing of the past. I glanced over my shoulder to see both children watching the snow settle with rapt attention. "It's a blizzard out there! Wow!"

"Can we build a fort? Please?" Ellone's eyes were shining.

"Yeah! We'll do it!" Laguna looked out the window. "But there's not enough snow yet. When there is, we will!"

"Is it snowing that hard?" Curiosity piqued, I joined the two of them at the window. To my great irritation, I seemed hyperaware of Laguna's proximity, and I tried not to notice as our shoulders brushed. It was a sense I'd been having more and more, and it was getting very troublesome.

Whirling snow pattered against the windowpane, and it was piling up fast on the cold ground outside. "It's a blizzard, all right," I said, surprised. "Wonder how much we're going to get?"

"Don't know," Laguna replied. "Ought to keep the monsters away, anyhow."

"Icky monsters," Ellone said, screwing up her face in revulsion. "Big bugs. Don't like those buchubuchus."

"What's a…buchubuchu?" Laguna said blankly.

"You know! They're green and wiggly, and they have big spots!" Ellone said, wringing her hands. Laguna shook his head.

"Caterchipillers," I broke in. "Ellone had trouble saying that word, so she calls them buchubuchus."

"Oh! Yeah! I know those." Laguna grinned at Ellone. "I don't like them either. I won't let any of them get you, I promise!"

"It's snowing even _harder_," Ellone said, peering out again. "Let's go outside! Please?"

I hesitated. "It's getting late, Ellone, and I have to make dinner."

"Uncle Laguna can take care of me, right?" She grabbed onto his leg and hugged it.

"I'll stay with her, Raine, you don't haveta worry," Laguna said. "I'll take good care of her."

"Oh, all right," I relented. "Don't be out late. Dinner is soon. And wear hats and gloves."

"Yeah, yeah," Laguna said, already heading for the coat closet with Ellone in tow. "Whatever you say!"

Laguna pulled the heavy coat I'd bought for him out of the closet and threw it around his shoulders. "Come on, Ellone!" he said, and Ellone started to follow him out. Her own coat was half-on, half-off, and there wasn't a glove in sight.

"Laguna!" I said, grabbing the tail of his coat before he could get too far. "Where are the gloves and scarves and such? I told both you and Ellone to wear them!"

"Aw, who needs those?" Laguna scrubbed the back of his head with his hand.

"You do," I replied, handing him a scarf. "I don't need to play nursemaid again to you when you come back with a cold. And _secondly_," I said, moving closer and lowering my voice, "Whatever _you_ do, Ellone is going to do. You have to set an example. Therefore… coat, scarf, gloves, and hat!"

"No hat," Laguna said flatly. "I hate them."

"Everything else, then." He sighed and wound the scarf around his neck, then pulled on the gloves. I helped Ellone bundle herself up in her puffy pink jacket and snow boots.

"_Now_ can we go?" Laguna asked.

"See you later, come back soon," I said, waving them out the door.

They went outside, but before I could shut the door behind them, Laguna popped his head back in again. "You don't want to come with us?"

"I'm busy at the moment," I said. "You go have some fun with Ellone."

Disappointment flickered across his face. "Too bad… Okay, then. Seeya!"

I went back to preparing dinner in the kitchen. I heard Ellone's delighted shrieks from outside, and Laguna laughing. It sounded like fun, and maybe I could leave something on to simmer if I wanted to go outside with them.

Knife temporarily stilled, I wavered between the demands of the kitchen and Laguna's infectious enthusiasm. It was going to be a slow night if anyone showed up at all; the snow was heavy and the soldiers would be less inclined to make the trek into town. I walked to the windows facing the town square and looked out; Laguna and Elle were having a snowball fight. Laguna was letting Elle pelt him with snowballs, covering his head and pretending to run away. He threw some back at her, but they were thrown way off target so that she could dodge them easily. Elle was screaming with laughter and chasing her "uncle" around, having the time of her life.

They disappeared behind one of the houses, but I could hear them. Maybe it _would _be fun to go out for a while. I put on my own winter gear and walked out into swirling white. Laguna and Elle were nowhere to be found. I wandered through the deepening snow towards the house they'd run behind. "Ellone?" I called, peeking around the corner.

Something soft and cold hit me from behind, and I yelped and turned around. There were the two miscreants, and Laguna's eyes were wide with surprise.

"Ruh-Raine?" he said. "I thought you weren't coming out!"

I gave him a dangerous look. "Did you throw that snowball?"

"It was an accident!" he protested, holding both hands out. "I was throwin' at Elle, and I didn't know you were there…"

I scooped some snow up into my hands and started to pack it. "Because if you did throw that snowball… I'm going to have to throw _this_ at you!" Laguna dodged, but he was too late; my missile hit him dead-center on the chest. Ellone burst out laughing and clapped her hands.

He looked down at the white blotch on his coat and narrowed his eyes playfully at me. "You know, this means war."

"Simple retaliation," I pointed out.

"Unh-unh." Laguna was packing snow himself. "War."

Ellone ran over and tugged at my hand. "Come on! Run!" I laughed and stumbled off with her, throwing up clouds of snow in my wake. A snowball whizzed by my ear, and I ducked.

Unable to resist a taunt, I called back over my shoulder, "You need to work on your aim, Laguna!"

"I heard that!" he yelled back. "You'll be sorry!" I giggled and scooped up some more snow. As I was bent down, another snowball pegged me in the shoulder. It threw me off balance and I rolled into the snow, laughing. Sensing a kill, Laguna ran over and stood over me while lazily tossing a new snowball in one hand.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't let you have it," he said ominously, doing his best to look dangerous.

I froze for a moment, and he grinned. "Can't move, can ya?" he chuckled, swaggering a little. He was right, but not for the reason he thought. I stared up at Laguna through the blowing snow, and my heart turned over in my chest. Snow had caught in the long black hair, and his eyes had me transfixed. _What is the matter with you, Raine?_ I thought furiously, and shoved the inappropriate thoughts back into the dark corner of my mind, where they belonged.

"Reason one!" I yelled back, and threw my concealed missile at him while pushing away from him with one leg. It hit him solidly on the chest, and he staggered back and tripped over his own unsteady feet to sit down hard on a snowdrift. Ellone ran over, giggling, and dropped an armload of snow on her unsuspecting uncle's head. "And… reason two," I said, smug.

"Gotcha!" Elle sang.

"Cold!" Laguna screamed. "Aaaaah, and it's melting all down my neck! I'm gonna get you guys!"

"Maybe tomorrow," I said, glancing at the swiftly darkening sky. "Night's falling." I extended a hand to Laguna to help him up.

"You just want to avoid the inevitable," he grumbled, but he took my hand. We walked back to the pub, him leading with Ellone orbiting his legs, and me drifting along in the snow, trying to forget the feel of his gloved hand wrapped around mine.

It was indeed a quiet night at the pub. No soldiers braved the whipping snow for a night of carousing at the bar, and so we had a rare evening with the three of us. Laguna and Ellone were in high spirits, chattering nonstop about the fort they were going to build the next day. From the sound of it, they'd need a small army and a bulldozer to finish it.

I sat on the couch, reading, listening to Laguna and Elle banter in the chairs opposite me. A fire flickered in the fireplace, and the room was warm and snug. Wind whipped around the eaves of the house, but we were safe inside.

Something was niggling at the back of my head as I read, and I put the book down and stared into the leaping flames, trying to get my thoughts to crystallize. It had been an unsettling day despite the fun we'd had, and conflicting thoughts were racing around in my brain, disrupting the peace of the evening.

"Something on your mind, Raine?" Laguna said, and I looked over to him and Ellone. She was snuggled into his lap with a book, and it looked like storytime, something Elle liked better than almost anything else.

"I'm all right," I replied. "Just thinking."

"Mind if I tell Elle a story? We don't wanna bother you."

I shook my head. "Go ahead."

Laguna started to read to Elle, his tenor voice punctuated by her excited commentary. As he read, the troubling thought finally rose to the surface. Family. The three of us had started to feel like a family, and I found it unnerving. He was going to leave us sooner or later, and the last thing I needed was to get attached to someone like him. Laguna was not someone I had envisioned for myself and it wouldn't do to throw myself at the first johnny-come-lately who walked down the main street of Winhill.

And these feelings I'd been having when being with him almost seemed like a good idea… well, maybe a little bit of a crush. He was around so much that it was inevitable, I reasoned. Yet… for a moment, while we were out there in the snow, I'd felt a flash of something that could be more.

It was time to put that to rest, I thought to myself. Time to clamp down on it and put Laguna out of my thoughts. I could do better, and I would, someday. But as I looked over at Elle and Laguna, happily cuddling in the chair, a rebellious portion of my mind whispered, _how?_

The next morning dawned overcast but quiet. The storm was over, and it left nearly a foot and a half of snow behind it. Ellone and Laguna both raced through breakfast, since their primary goal was to get out the door and into the snow. This time they put on all the proper garments before hurrying out, after some harassment.

I busied myself with the tasks of the day. There was plenty to keep me busy inside, and Ellone was safe with Laguna. They came inside at about midday to lunch and hot chocolate, but it wasn't long before they were back outside. Not long after lunch, Anna from the flower shop came by to see how we'd weathered the storm.

"Hello, Anna," I called from the kitchen. "How are you?"

"Just fine, dear," she said, putting a bag down on the table. "I brought you some cookies. Not much else to do yesterday but stay inside, so I baked."

"Thank you!" I walked out of the kitchen, dusting flour off my hands. "Laguna and Elle didn't stay inside. They were having a marvelous time."

Anna shook her head. "They're having a great time now, too. How we're ever going to get through that fort of theirs before springtime is beyond me."

"Get through their fort?" I said, smiling. "How much of a fort can one man and a three-year-old build?"

The older woman gave me a funny look. "Have you looked outside recently?"

"No. Should I?"

"I think you should." Anna opened the door, and I looked out. What met my eyes boggled the imagination.

I was right in that it would have taken a small army to build the fort Laguna and Elle had in mind, and Laguna had found one. It looked like every Galbadian soldier in the garrison was pushing snow around. Laguna himself was yelling out suggestions while he packed snow into crenellations, and to my amazement, the soldiers were playing along. They all seemed to be having a genuinely good time.

I gaped at the spectacle. Anna folded her arms and shook her head. "What a mess," she said. "That Laguna is trouble, mark my words."

"Trouble?" I laughed out loud. "He's been nothing but trouble since he crossed this threshold. But he's harmless. I don't think Laguna could concentrate hard enough to come up with any thoughts of malice."

"He's not from around here," Anna said darkly, as if that explained everything. "He's friendly with all those dratted Galbadian soldiers, too."

"He _was _one," I replied.

"Even worse."

Subtly nettled, I bit back a retort. Anna was an old friend. "Is there anything I can do for you while you're here?"

"Well, I had a question for you. I can't get the rainlilies to grow the way you could. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Can you stop by sometime and have a look?"

"Sure," I said. "I'll be by sometime tomorrow, is that all right?"

Anna smiled. "Certainly. Thank you very much, dearie." She checked her watch. "I'd better be going. Goodbye, Raine."

"Goodbye – and thank you for the cookies! I'm sure they'll be gone in no time. Especially considering how Laguna eats."

"You ought to make him work at something for the food you're giving him," Anna harrumphed. "He should make himself useful."

I sighed. "There has to be something. He can't be hopeless at everything."

"Think about it." Anna clasped my hands in hers and left.

The fort had grown in length by a few feet while we were speaking. The two halves snaked around two sides of the square, facing one another. The fort was sufficient to stage a war of epic proportions. Ellone was running between the two embankments, overjoyed. She spotted me and bounced over, tugging on my pants leg.

"Come and see what Uncle Laguna made for me!" she bubbled.

"Let me get my coat on," I said. "Where's your hat, Ellone?"

"Ummm…"

"Go get it and put it on. I'll be right out," I scolded. She darted off, and I went back inside to bundle up. Ellone was waiting for me on the porch when I came back out.

"Come _on!_" she said, bristling with impatience. "Come and see!" Ellone grabbed my hand and dragged me out into the square. "Isn't it great?" she said proudly, spreading her arms wide.

"It's certainly big," I said weakly.

"It's the best fort in the whole world!" Ellone jumped up and down and clapped her hands. Her face brightened as she spotted Laguna, who was packing snow onto the central pile. "Uncle Laguna! Show Raine our fort!"

A dark head popped up from behind a created snowbank, and Laguna waved to both of us. "Hi, Raine!" he called. "What do you think? Didn't me 'n Elle do a great job?"

"You, Elle, and the rest of the Galbadian Army," I returned, hands on hips. Laguna climbed over the front of the fort and half-jumped, half-slid to the bottom. He sauntered over, grinning at both of us and looking pleased with himself.

"Yeah, well… we did it, didn't we, Elle?" Ellone giggled and grabbed onto Laguna's leg. "Come have a look, Raine," he invited. "It's pretty cool!"

A chorus of hello's from the soldiers rose from the snow as Laguna led me behind the fort. One of them called out, "Thanks, Raine!" I wondered what he'd be thanking me for, and suspicion began to grow in the back of my mind.

Laguna was talking nonstop about his creation. "And look here," he said, pulling aside a board, "There's our stockpile of ammo." I stared at an enormous pile of snowballs, tumbled together. He put the board back and wound along a path set behind the wall to the main tower. "So we need a high point where we can spot the enemy from, right Elle?"

"Right!" Ellone puffed up and pointed to the largest snowbank. "I helped bring snow, like the other soldiers!"

"But we all know you're the best trooper of all!" Laguna scooped Ellone up and helped her onto his shoulders. "C'mon, you have to see the fortifications."

"Laguna…" I hurried after him, trying to get his attention. He paid me no mind and tramped along to the next major set of snowbanks.

"Raine!" A soldier below me was waving and smiling.

"Mallin?" I said blankly. "How did you get involved with this?"

"Laguna asked me," he replied. "And I gotta say thanks to you, it was so nice of you to offer…"

Warning bells went off. "Offer what?" I said suspiciously, but Mallin had already been distracted. "What am I offering?" I yelled after him, but he was gone. With growing dread, I ran after Laguna.

"An' here's the moat," he was saying. "No water in it, but someone attacking would trip in it…"

I grabbed the back of his coat and tugged hard to get his wandering attention. "Laguna! I want to talk to you!" Laguna turned around, with the look of a little boy who's been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "What… exactly… did you offer these men in return for their help?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest.

"Uhh… well… I was gonna talk to you about that," he said. "I can help with it and all…"

I schooled my face into a pleasant expression for the moment. "Elle, can you leave me and Uncle Laguna alone for a minute?"

She looked unhappy. "How come?"

"Because I have to talk to him in private." Laguna reluctantly let her down, and Elle scooted off to help the soldiers pile snow. "Now," I said, eyes blazing, "You had better start talking. I want to know why all the soldiers are thanking me."

"Ummm… I wanted Elle to have a good fort, so I asked the garrison to help out, and they did…"

I sighed. "Laguna," I said, "I know these guys. They don't work for free. What did you promise them in return for their help with the fort?"

Avoiding my eyes, he replied, "Dinner…" I started towards him, my hands in fists. "But I can help with it! If you need money an' all…" Laguna backed away from me, hands in the air, and tripped over a pile of snow to sit down hard.

Fury found a voice. "Did you even think to ask me first?" I yelled, and the soldiers all poked their heads up to see where the noise was coming from.

"But don't you usually serve these guys dinner?" he protested. "I thought maybe I could pay for it…"

"I never have this big a crowd in the pub," I snapped. "Treating dinner is one thing, but you promised these guys something from me without talking to me! What's the matter with you?"

"Raine…" he said weakly, standing up. "I meant to talk to you but then things got going, and…"

I was so mad at him that I could barely speak. "Laguna, for once, just for once, could you think before you open that big mouth of yours? Oh, I know you've gotten yourself in trouble, right enough! But don't drag me into it! Do you understand?" I punctuated the last sentence with a hard poke in the shoulder.

"I'm sorry…" Laguna's voice trailed off as I turned my back on him and marched back towards the pub. "Raine?" he called as I walked away.

"What?" I snapped.

"Umm… what about dinner, then?" he asked, hands in pockets.

I threw up my hands in exasperation. "I'm not going to let all these guys down because you have terminal foot-in-mouth disease!" A cheer went up from the gathered soldiers. "Actually," I said, narrowing my eyes at him, "That gives me an idea." I walked back up to him and grabbed the end of his scarf. "You, Laguna Loire," I told him, "are going to help me fix dinner." I started back towards the pub, ignoring the sounds of protest and partial strangulation from my unwilling captive. The soldiers laughed as I dragged Laguna inside, bent over from my indirect hold on his neck. Ellone ran after us, her eyes wide.

Laguna was quiet in the kitchen as I ordered him to do tasks like peeling potatoes and chopping onions. He did try to break the tension by talking to me, but I was in no mood to banter with him of all people, and eventually he stayed silent. Despite his unskilled hands, the work did go faster, and I was able to put together enough food for everyone.

I stayed behind the bar for most of the evening. Laguna seemed to be his usual loud, cheery self with his new friends, but he kept looking over to gauge the mood on my face, trying to be very surreptitious about it. The soldiers ate almost every bit of what I'd prepared, and I did get more than the usual night's take of gil from the bar. My guests weren't stupid enough to think they'd be getting free beer.

After the last soldier had disappeared into the night, I busied myself with cleaning up. I was sweeping under one of the tables when I saw Laguna approaching. "Raine?" he said tentatively. "Umm… can I talk to you?"

"Yes, Laguna?" I said. "What is it?"

He scuffed his feet and looked at the floor. "I'm sorry about dinner and all. I didn't want to make trouble, I wanted to make Elle happy…" Laguna looked genuinely upset. "And I don't want you to be mad anymore."

Some of my anger evaporated and I sighed. "Think before you open your mouth next time," I advised. "And I'm not covering for you again. Next time, it's all your responsibility."

Laguna gave me a watery smile. "I promise."

"Good." I picked up my dustpan. "I think that's the last of it. I don't know about you, but I'm going to bed." I dumped broken glass and spilled food into the garbage, and went for the stairs.

"Raine?"

Exasperated, I turned around. "Yes, Laguna?"

"I know that tonight cost you… what can I do?"

"I'll think of something," I said, remembering Anna's warning to keep him busy. In light of recent events, Laguna did need something to keep him occupied. "For now, you can go tuck Ellone in. She'll listen to you when you tell her to go to bed."

Laguna nodded and followed me up the stairs. I shut the door to my room and washed up, climbing into bed with a sense of great weariness. As I lay alone in the dark, my thoughts turned again to the man whom I could hear reading to Ellone. His heart was certainly in the right place, but his head…

At any rate, it was well past time for Laguna to be getting busy, I thought. He was well enough to take care of himself. He could do something for Winhill the same way any other villager would. It was time to set him up in his own house as well, I reflected. People were going to start talking, and my schoolgirl crush aside, I didn't want that.

It was too close for comfort.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Springtime in Winhill. I paused for a moment in my exhausting task of cleaning the pub from top to bottom to bask in the early April sunshine. The first, faintest blush of green was staining the trees, and the breeze held a promise of warmth despite the spring chill. It had taken weeks, but Laguna's fort had melted along with the rest of winter, to Ellone's dismay. There had been some marathon snowball fights out there while the cold weather lasted and the monsters stayed away.

Laguna was living next door to me in Ellone's old house. We had both worked to make it livable again, and Laguna didn't mention the bullet holes in the walls. It had been a sad day for Ellone when he moved next door, despite my constant assurance that her Uncle Laguna was close by.

"But why?" she'd asked, tears brimming in big brown eyes. "Why does he have to go away? I want Uncle Laguna to stay."

It is almost impossible to explain the concept of "It's inappropriate" to a young child, so I had tried to put it in terms she would understand. "Uncle Laguna's all better now," I told her. "He can't stay in the house with us because he and I aren't married, and so it's against the rules."

"Rules are stupid," Ellone sniffled. She thought that over, and with her next sentence, I realized that I'd given her too much ammunition. "Then Uncle Laguna and Raine should get married. That way, we can all be together, all the time, like before."

"I'm not going to marry Uncle Laguna, Ellone," I said firmly.

"Why?"

"You marry someone because you love them very much and you want to be with them for the rest of your life," I said, comforting her.

"Don't you love Uncle Laguna?" Ellone looked stricken. "I love him very much! Can I marry him?"

I had to smile. "I think marriage is for grown-ups."

"How soon will I be grown up?"

"Soon enough, sweetie," I sighed, "Soon enough."

Ellone got used to Laguna living next door. He put her to sleep at night when she was being fussy, and since Laguna couldn't cook worth a damn, he took meals with us as well. That was the other change – Laguna was working for what he was eating, same as anyone else. Monster Hunter of Winhill, he called himself, and he took his "job" very seriously, even to the point of behaving like he was in the military.

I checked my watch. He ought to be coming back from "first patrol" soon, and he'd be hungry. I picked up the rugs I had been shaking out and went back inside. It wouldn't take too long to make up a plate of sandwiches.

"Where's Uncle Laguna?" Ellone bounced down the stairs.

"He's out hunting Buchubuchus and Bunbuns, Elle, you know that," I replied. "It's almost time for lunch. He'll be here soon."

"I'm the Assistant Commander," she informed me, jutting her chin into the air. "Uncle Laguna makes a report just for me. He gets those bugs so they can't bother me no more."

"_Any_ more, Elle," I said, correcting her. All the time Elle had spent with Laguna had degraded her language habits. I'd questioned him once about how he was going to be a respected writer if he couldn't speak properly, but Laguna dismissed such a silly notion.

"It doesn't matter, 'cause I write from the heart! They'll know what I'm saying," he'd said, and that was the end of that. I corrected both of them and told Laguna on no uncertain terms that I did not want Ellone picking up his speech habits. It didn't help; Ellone and Laguna snickered about getting in trouble with Raine and did what they wanted.

"Raine? Can I go see if Laguna's back? At my house?" Ellone asked. "Please?"

"No," I replied. "You know you're not supposed to go out alone. Even your Uncle Laguna insists on that. There are too many monsters out there. If Laguna's back, he's resting, and you shouldn't wake him up. He'll be back soon."

As if on cue, heavy bootsteps sounded on the stairs outside and Laguna burst inside. He looked battered, but not really the worse for wear. "I'm back!" he announced.

Ellone squeaked with delight and scooted over to Laguna. She pulled herself up in a mock-military posture and said, "Report to the Commander!"

Laguna gave me a saucy grin and I sighed in exasperation. Why he insisted on behaving like he was still in the service was beyond me. "Here's my report on today's patrol and monster extermination! Including Buchubuchus and Bunbuns that Assistant Commander Ellone oh-so-hates... I've exterminated ten monsters!"

"At ease, soldier," I said. "Good job. Sit down, lunch is ready. By the way, a package arrived for you from the army – I think it's your things."

Laguna was already tearing into the plate of food. "Really?" he said around a mouthful of ham and cheese. "That was fast."

"Don't talk with your mouth full." I sat down and picked up half a sandwich for myself.

"Yeah, don't talk with your mouth full," Ellone parroted, her own mouth full of peanut butter and jelly. Laguna snickered and so did Elle.

"Stop it, both of you, and behave like civilized people." I admonished. "Honestly."

Lunch was over quickly. Laguna told us all about his monster extermination for the day. Ellone never got tired of the same story with the same embellishments – Laguna couldn't have asked for a better audience. I busied myself with the dishes.

"Where's the package, Raine?" Laguna appeared at the entrance of the kitchen.

"I think it's under the bar," I said, hanging up my dishtowel. "I'll get it for you."

The package, wrapped in brown paper, wasn't much more than an armload. Laguna put the box down on one of the tables and unwrapped it.

"Hey! My old jacket!" he exclaimed, pulling out a short blue coat with a high collar. Laguna immediately slipped it on, grinning. "I feel like myself again! Glad it still fits." He dipped back into the box and started piling things on the table.

"Whoa, whoa!" I said, interrupting him. "Why don't you take those next door instead of making a mess in here?" A picture on the table caught my eye and I picked it up. "Who are these people?"

"…Oh." Laguna suddenly looked sad and lost, and it was such a change from his normal self that I was shocked. "They're Kiros and Ward. My best pals." He took the picture away from me and put it in the box. "I'm gonna bring these next door. Sorry for the mess." Head down, he hurried outside.

"What's the matter with Uncle Laguna?" Ellone asked.

"I think he misses his friends, sweetie," I said, picking her up. She leaned her head against my shoulder.

"Can we find his friends for him?"

I didn't want to tell her that they might be dead. Laguna had spoken about the enigmatic Kiros and Ward numerous times, but when it came to questions about where they were now, Laguna either turned evasive or changed the subject. It was a long time before Laguna told me that the last place he'd been was Centra, which made sense because it wasn't too far from Winhill. It was my hunch that he had made it out on a boat somehow and was washed up to shore near the town, wounded from his escape.

"I don't know, Elle," I replied. "I think they're far away." Changing the subject, I asked Ellone, "Would you like to play outside for a while? I'll go outside with you." It was a nice day, and we could all use some fresh air.

"Yaaay!" she cheered. "Outside!" Ellone ran to get her toys, and I went for a lawn chair, my radio, and a book. We went outside, and I set up the chair while Ellone fished out her skipping rope. The batteries in the radio were good, and I snapped it on as Ellone counted jumps in the background.

The announcer's staticky voice filtered through the speakers. "And now, brought to you from Deling City Radio, frequency 104.5 on your radio dial, the smash hit by Julia Heartilly… _Eyes on Me!_"

_Oh for crying out loud…_ I buried my nose in the book but didn't change the station. This song always made me think of Laguna, and it was a reminder that although he was out of sight most of the time, he wasn't out of mind. Out of my mind, that is. It was embarrassing that the annoying crush hadn't dissipated; rather, it had gotten worse.

I didn't understand it. Laguna got on my nerves more than anyone else I knew, so why should he be the subject of any feelings from me besides irritation? Julia's voice, slightly tinny from the sound quality of the radio, spilled out onto the square. "_So let me come to you… Close as I wanted to be… Close enough for me… to feel your heart, beating fast…_" I caught myself singing along, and crossly shut my mouth, trying to quell the images that came with the lyrics. Brief vague image of my hand on Laguna's chest, feeling the blood pulse under my fingers…

"I do not want to think that way, not at all," I muttered to myself, clenching my teeth. "Not about him. Never."

"Hi, Raine!" I looked up, and there was Laguna in the doorway to his house. I nearly fell out of my chair in my rush to turn off the radio, my cheeks flushing.

"Laguna," I said, weakly. "Are you off for another patrol?"

"Not right away, maybe," he said. "What was on the radio? Are you okay? You look a little red."

"I do? I don't know why that would be," I lied.

Laguna gave me a funny look, but Ellone came running over to break the moment. "Uncle Laguna!" she shouted, dropping her jump rope. "Wanna go play?"

"Okay, okay," he laughed as she dragged him off by the hand. I breathed a sigh of relief and returned to my book. The sun shifted overhead, warm, while Laguna and Ellone played; he was trying to teach her to play catch, very patiently, with her large rubber ball. She was starting to get the hang of the catching part, but the throwing was still eluding her. I lost track of their game as the book grew more absorbing.

"Raine?" Laguna's voice suddenly cut into my little world, and I yelped and dropped the book. "Sorry," he said, grinning and rubbing the back of his head. "Didn't mean to scare ya. Can I take Elle for a walk around Winhill? She wants to see where I go on patrol."

"_May_ I," I said, feeling absentminded. Laguna rolled his eyes. "Are you sure it's safe? There are a lot of monsters out there. If anything happened to Ellone…"

Ellone peeked over the arm of the chair. "Uncle Laguna will always, always protect me and come to rescue me. He said so. Right?"

"Uncle Laguna sometimes comes back in bad shape from his patrols." I stood up and retrieved my book. "I don't think it's such a good idea."

"So little faith in my abilities," Laguna said. "You don't think I can protect Elle?" He unslung his gun from his back and brandished it in the air. "Me 'n my girl here can take on anyone! Just put 'em in the crosshairs and… pow!" Laguna mimed shooting, alarming a passing rabbit.

"Point that thing somewhere else, would you please?" I shoved the business end of the gun towards the middle of the square rather than at the pub. "The answer is still no."

"You are no fun at all," Laguna sniffed. "It's a gorgeous spring day and all you want to do is sit in front of the pub."

I folded my arms across my chest and glared at him. "Why? Because I'm responsible? Because I worry about Ellone getting on the wrong side of a Bite Bug? Because, despite your cavalier air, you're not the master of the universe? Get over it, Laguna."

"Now, you're _really_ no fun. Had to go and say the 'R' word." Laguna yawned in pantomimed boredom and strapped his gun to his back again. "Fine. I'm going off on patrol."

Ellone started to cry. "Don't go, Uncle Laguna! Please!" She ran over and tugged at my pants leg. "Can't we all go together?"

Laguna looked back at me sidelong over his shoulder. "I think Raine would rather stay here than go _exploring_."

I could cheerfully have kicked him in the shins. "Excuse me for being boring, hotshot." I folded up my chair and put it next to the door of the pub, leaving the book under it. "So. Are we going?"

"You mean you _will_ come?" Laguna looked pleased with himself.

"I know these hills better than you," I informed him. "I've been over every inch of this town, from the river to the mountains. So don't give me any noise about not wanting to explore."

"What about all those monsters?" Laguna puffed up his chest, attempting to look like the Manly Savior. "Guess I'll have to take care of both Ellone _and_ you out there."

"Guess again," I retorted. "I'll be right back." Under the bar was my old crossbow from a hoyden youth, when the other children and I would go hunting the less dangerous monsters around Winhill. I hadn't used it in some time, but respect for the weapon made me keep it in firing shape. I dragged it out, dusted it off, and scooped up a handful of quarrels to put in the attached quiver.

Laguna clapped his hands in delight when I came back out of the pub fully armed. "The lady's dangerous! Where'd'ja get that thing? Let me see!"

"I've had it for a while," I said, cranking a bolt into place. "Here."

Laguna took the crossbow from me and sighted down the arrow. "Nifty! I haven't seen something like this since training in boot camp. 'Course most people were interested in the more modern weapons, or the gunblades even." He looked excited. "Can I shoot it?"

"Mmmmm…." I thought about it. I didn't want to lose any quarrels; they weren't that easy to come by. "…Maybe once. Would you be content to shoot a tin can off the fence?"

"Sounds okay to me." Laguna went back to inspecting the crossbow while I fished a can out of the recycling bin. I put it on the fence at the end of the square and motioned Ellone back behind Laguna's line of fire.

"Fire when ready," I said, holding onto Ellone's shoulders so she couldn't scoot away and into the wrong place. "Do you think you can hit it?"

"Heck yes," Laguna said, scornfully. "Thirty meters ain't much. I can shoot the wings off a fly at seventy."

"_Isn't_ much," I corrected. "Watch it; the bow has a kick."

He lifted the butt of the crossbow to his shoulder and lined up for the shot. The trigger clicked and the arrow sang, rocketing across the square to hit the tin can with a bang. The can fell off the fence and bounced down the slope beyond with the bolt embedded in it.

"Awesome!" Laguna bounced up and down and raised the bow into the air. "That was fun!"

"I hope we find that can," I said. "May I have my crossbow back now?"

"Here," Laguna said, handing me the now-unloaded weapon. "Thanks for letting me try it!"

"You're welcome." I took the wooden haft and loaded another quarrel. "Let's go."

Laguna led us off towards the entrance to town, flanking Ellone on one side while I guarded the other. It was a very strange feeling to be comrades-in-arms with Laguna of all people, even if it was – in all likelihood – an isolated incident. I maintained a wary watch while Laguna chatted us both up about his patrols.

"…And then I go up to the town entrance," he was saying, "Because if the streets aren't clear, then people can't go about their business. Just think, you're going down the street to go shopping, and a monster pounces on you! I'm here to make sure that stops happening."

Ellone wrinkled her nose at Laguna. "Where else do you go, Uncle Laguna? I've been here before!"

Laguna pretended to be offended. "You're BORED?"

Ellone stuck her tongue out at him. "Show me somewhere else!"

"Raine? Can we go outside of town?" Laguna asked. "I don't wanna disappoint Elle here."

I considered. This was going a bit far. "Just out onto the hills," I said firmly. "Then we're going home. There's a lot more than just Bite Bugs and Caterchipillers out here."

Laguna nodded agreement and our little party set out again. "Stay close, Elle," Laguna said. We skirted a line of trees that bordered a meadow that was beginning to show some green.

"Pretty," Ellone breathed, catching sight of a tiny stream running through the trees. "And a waterfall!" Caught up in the moment, she broke away from us and started running. Something stirred in the trees, and I heard wings buzzing.

"Ellone! No!" Laguna yelled, grabbing his gun and running after her. Ellone saw the Bite Bugs swarming out of the little copse, and she screamed. I took off after Laguna, my heart in my mouth. _If she gets hurt, I'm going to have his ass on a platter_, I thought, furiously. _Then again, Raine, you did follow him out on this trip_.

Laguna had reached Ellone, and he got between the blue insects and the little girl before they could attack her. They buzzed menacingly, and the leader of the troupe shot its sting at Laguna before he could fire. He staggered back, but he quickly lifted the muzzle of the gun at the insect and peppered it with bullets.

I knelt at Ellone's side and looked her over. She seemed to be all right. "Don't move, Elle," I said, shouldering my crossbow. "Laguna and I are going to take these guys out."

Laguna had dispatched one of the three insects. Raising my bow, I aimed at the leftmost bug of the two that remained and pulled the trigger. The arrow flew true and buried itself in the insect's abdomen. Its wings fluttered erratically and it fell to the ground, twitching.

"Great shot!" came from beside me, and there was Laguna, lining up for another attack on the remaining bug. Angry at the loss of its comrades, it buzzed in before he could fire and tried to bite him.

"Laguna! Look out!" I reversed my grip and slammed the butt of my crossbow into the body of the incoming bug, but not before it had dive-bombed Laguna and left a welt on his neck. _Goddamn bug hurt him_, I thought, viciously. _End of the line for you_.

I loaded another quarrel into my bow, but the bug wasn't done yet. It shot its sting into me before buzzing away, and as I pulled the stinger out, I started to feel sick. I slumped to my knees, head spinning.

"Raine!" Laguna was at my side instantly, picking me up off the ground. I was feeling too awful to be self-conscious about the gesture, and I leaned against his shoulder. I thought I heard him mutter something about stupid ideas and doomed bugs, and the sharp report of the gun cut into my hazy state. I watched the last Bite Bug fall into the grass and die, cut down by the bullets.

Laguna let me down onto the grass and pressed something into my hand. "You gotta take an antidote, Raine. Take these, you'll feel better." I stared stupidly down at two white pastilles in my hand before raising them to my mouth, chewing and swallowing. The awful sickness dissipated quickly, and my head stopped spinning. "Did the antidote work?" he asked, anxious. "This was such a damnfool idea, I should never have taken you guys out here… you coulda been hurt a lot worse."

"It's all right; I let you do it, after all." I brushed my hair back and tried to stand up. "I have to go get my arrow."

Laguna sat me back down with a hand on my shoulder. "I'll find it. Sit and rest, okay?"

It did feel better to be staying in one place on the grass. "Thanks. But I think we should get out of here as soon as possible."

Laguna nodded and walked over to the carcasses of the three unlucky bugs. Ellone crawled out from behind the tree where she'd been hiding and snuggled up against me, still looking frightened. I patted her back, murmuring soothing nonsense. "Uncle Laguna has to do this every day?" she said to me, rolling over in my lap. "Who protects _him_ when he goes out?" "He takes care of himself, Elle," I said. "Uncle Laguna was a soldier, remember? He's good at that."

"Then how come he got so hurt?" she asked. "Maybe he needs someone to protect him sometimes."

"Maybe that's why Uncle Laguna misses his friends," I said. Laguna was finished with the Bite Bugs, and he was walking back over to us. "Hush now, Elle."

"Found your arrow, Raine!" he called, holding it out. Laguna dropped down beside us, Indian-style. "Look what else they dropped. Take a look." He held out a few chips of shimmering stone that caught the light, winking in the spring sunshine.

"What are they?" I didn't move to take them from him.

"Magic stone chips." Laguna stretched his legs out, lazily. "Too bad the faeries aren't flying or I could do somethin' with 'em."

"Faeries?" Ellone scrambled up, her eyes wide. "You know faeries? Are they little with glittery wings, like in my storybook?" I gave Laguna a strange look; if he believed in faeries, then he was even more spaced-out than I'd thought.

Laguna shrugged. "I dunno. That's what Kiros, Ward and I called them, anyhow. Sometimes we'd get this big power surge outta nowhere, and for a couple days, we could call guardian forces out."

"Guardian forces?" I asked, astonished; they were half-legendary, and no one I knew had ever seen one, let alone used one. "What's it like? Are you sure you had them?"

"Positive. But it never lasted long, too bad about that." Laguna shredded grass in his fingers. "They could turn stuff like these chips into spells. Powerful magic, too." He leaned back on his hands and grinned at me. "I bet you wish you'd had a couple cure spells when I came along."

I shrugged. "I don't like magic and I don't ever want to use it," I said, trying to discourage any further talk about the subject. "Magic cost us too much."

"What do you mean?" Laguna replied, puzzled.

"I don't want to talk about it." I stood up and took Ellone's hand. "We're going home."

"Did I say something wrong?" Laguna gave me a piteous look.

"Just drop it, Laguna." I shouldered my crossbow. "Maybe some other time."

We hiked back to town without incident. My thoughts were in turmoil, and I barely glanced at Laguna or Ellone on the way home; my head was full of bad memories of the night when Esthar had come for Ellone mixed in with memories of the loss of my parents. I'd never told Laguna Ellone's story in full, and he didn't know anything about my past. He didn't need to know, anyway.

The pub was closed for the evening because of spring cleaning, so I went back to scrubbing floors and dusting while Laguna went out on patrol. My mood hadn't lightened, and guilt over putting Ellone in danger by taking her too far outside the village just added to the black clouds. I'd let Laguna's comments get to me, and as a result, I'd been poisoned and Ellone had seen a Bunbun up close and personal.

Dinner was subdued and Ellone was cranky – overexcited and tired, no doubt. Laguna put her to bed while I cleaned up. When I was done, I sat down at the bar and stared into the stained glass windows, lost in thought.

Oh, what the heck. I pulled out a beer from the refrigerator and expertly removed the cap, taking a long drink of bitter brew. It tasted good and alcohol was the time-honored remedy for bad memories.

"Drinking alone?" Laguna startled me out of my reverie, plunking himself down across the bar from me. Wordlessly, I took another beer out of the fridge and slid it over to him, barely glancing in his direction. "Timber microbrew," he mused, picking up the bottle. "You have good taste."

"I serve enough beer here to be able to appreciate it." I twirled my bottle back and forth between my fingertips. "You need a bottle opener?"

"Nah." Laguna took a key out of his pocket and knocked the cap off. Against my will, a smile twitched at the corners of my mouth.

"Not many people can pull that trick off," I said. "Had a lot of practice?"

"You could say that," Laguna replied, looking amused. "Elle's asleep, by the way. I'm sorry about wanting to take her out. Seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Seems to be a recurrent theme with you." I drained my bottle and tossed it in with the other empties, then got another for myself.

Laguna gave a self-deprecating laugh and took another swig. "I just want to make Elle happy. She must've had a tough start, losing her parents."

"Hmmm." I played with a lock of hair, not rising to the bait.

"So what happened to Elle's parents, anyway? You never told me."

"You never asked," I said with some asperity. "Elle's special. Sometimes special people get the wrong kind of attention."

"Special how?" Laguna's gaze sharpened.

"You know Esthar? And Adel?" Laguna nodded. "Adel's interested in Ellone. Let's put it that way. And you know from your own personal experience how ruthless Esthar soldiers are."

Laguna spoke slowly. "So Esthar killed her parents… because Ellone is a sorceress, and Adel needs a successor."

"You got it." I put my beer down. "Her parents were my friends. They died defending her. Elle was about two when it happened, and soon she'll be four… so I suppose it was about two years ago. I took her in afterwards."

"I heard rumors in the army about Adel," Laguna mused, leaning back in his chair and propping his heels up on the chair next to him. "She's got the whole country wound up to do what she wants. We found one of their labs once, Kiros and Ward and me."

"Really."

"Yeah." Laguna put down his empty bottle. "How about a refill?" I tossed him another beer, and he continued. "They were excavating something called a Crystal Pillar out of the ground. Super-secret stuff, of course, so we had to go investigating."

"If it was so secret, how'd you find it?"

"Oh that… um. I brought the wrong map and we fell over it." Laguna looked sheepish.

"Why am I not surprised," I said, shaking my head. "So what did you find?"

"A lot of Esthar soldiers," he said softly, eyes dimming. "And a cliff."

"So that's where you came from," I mused, putting two and two together. Laguna had never spoken of that before, so it had to be the alcohol loosening his tongue. I decided not to press.

"I'll tell you one thing, though," Laguna continued, "Esthar's never gonna get their paws on Elle while I'm around." He jerked his thumb at his chest. "They've done enough. I'll fight 'em to the last man before I'll let them hurt her. Or anyone else in this town!" His words were general, but his eyes were locked on me. I blushed a little and turned away.

"I think I've had enough for an evening," I said, sliding off my chair and tossing the second empty bottle away. "Here – let me have yours too." Laguna handed me the two bottles.

"Thanks for the brew," he said, wiping his mouth off. I threw the bottles in the bin and was startled by a loud belch from behind me.

"Laguna!" I put my hands on my hips and glared at him. "That was disgusting."

"Sorry. Can't help these things." He didn't look sorry.

"Go home, go on, get out of here," I said, shooing Laguna out the front door.

"Goodnight, Raine!" Laguna called back, ambling back to his house.

"Goodnight yourself," I returned, watching him from the front porch. "Oh – one more thing?" He paused, turning his key in the lock. "_Good_ one," I called. "Nice depth and resonance."

Laguna laughed and I shut the door.


	7. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Good _Hyne_, it's hot." The man with the dirty, greasy machine gun dropped with a thump into a tavern chair. He pushed lank hair away from his forehead and gave me an aggrieved look, as if I'd waved my hands and caused the weather to change. "Is it always this hot in Winhill in the summer? Or is this some special occasion, for my stay here?"

I sighed and tried not to notice the grease stain the gun was leaving on the cushion it leaned against. "It's just for you," I said, fanning myself with a menu. "I can't remember it ever being this hot."

"I'm a lucky guy, I guess," Laguna replied, slumping in his chair. The ubiquitous blue jacket had given way to the heat, and his hair was tied back with an elastic band to keep it off his neck. "Now, Trabia – there's somewhere that's gotta be cold right about now. I wouldn't mind a trip there. What do you think, Raine?"

"I think it's a long way from here." _Here we go again_.

"They say there's always snow in the mountains there," Laguna rhapsodized, his eyes going starry. "I'd love to go! Can you imagine getting into a snowbank in the middle of summer? Especially now," he said, picking at his sweaty shirt. "This is just gross. Haven't you guys ever heard of air conditioning?"

"That's a good project for you. Go buy me a unit and install it." I knotted my hair into an even more severe bun at the nape of my neck to keep it out of my way.

Laguna appeared not to have heard me. "It's days like this that make you wonder why we wear clothes, you know? It's too damn hot to think. How about a nice sea breeze… mmm, Balamb. If I was there, I'd take a running jump in the ocean. You ever heard of Balamb fish?"

"Not really." I pushed clean glasses into the rack above the bar and tried not to think about Laguna leaving.

"I've never tried it," he said. "That's what I could do, travel the world and review restaurants! I can see it now… four stars from the great Laguna Loire, food critic! With a gold plaque on the wall to let everyone else see, read it and weep!"

"You eat enough to be good at that," I replied, waspishly.

"No one cooks as well as you, though." Laguna grinned at me. "I'd give you _five_ stars. I bet even the Balamb fish isn't as good as yours."

"Flattery will get you nowhere." I eyed Laguna and grimaced a little at the sweat stain on the front of his shirt. "Why don't you go take a shower if you're so hot? You could use one."

"How's about a cold one instead? Plllease?" Laguna kicked back and put his boots up on the table. "Nothin' like a cold beer on a day like this."

"Maybe when you stop offending my nose, I'll honor your request." I waved a hand in front of my face.

"What?" Laguna lifted an arm and took a quick sniff.

"You are so disgusting sometimes," I said, screwing up my face in disbelief. "I can't believe you did that."

"It's only natural," he informed me. "You go out hunting monsters all day, and see if _you_ come back all roses."

"Whatever." I straightened my tank top, fanning air under the fabric.

"Oh, _fine_." Laguna stood up and picked up his gun. "I'll remove my skeevy self from your presence, your Highness."

"A beer will be waiting for you when you're back."

"An incentive! All right, you got a deal." Laguna saluted and sauntered out the door, whistling.

I shook my head as I watched him go. "I can't believe it," I sighed to the air, leaning on the bar. "Of all people. Of all the people on this planet. Why does it have to be you?"

"Who're you tawking to, Raine?" Ellone peered around the corner, snuggling her moogle.

"No one, sweetie," I replied. "It's okay."

"Where did Uncle Laguna go?"

"He went next door to have a shower." I picked up my glass of water and took a long drink; it was hot as blazes. "But he'll be back soon and then you can play."

"That's no fun." Ellone made a face. "How come he can't stay here and do it? You used to wash his hair sometimes."

"Ellone!" I spluttered, coughing water all over. "Not any more. He's not hurt and he can take care of himself. He's a big boy." _Out of the mouths of babes_, I thought.

"So you can't take care of Uncle Laguna because you're not married?" Ellone said, furrowing her brow. I stifled a groan. Marriage – specifically, Uncle Laguna's theoretical marriage to me – was one of Ellone's favorite subjects. I had managed to get her to stop bringing it up when he was around, but if he wasn't, it was fair game for the four-year-old. Whether she talked about it with him when she was over visiting was anyone's guess.

"Something like that."

"So are you gonna marry him? Together, together! We'd all be together!" Elle sang, dancing along to her own tune.

"We're together a lot now," I reminded her, swinging her up onto a bar stool. She loved to pretend she was a customer. "You see Uncle Laguna all the time, and he plays with you as much as he did before."

"Not so much," she grumped, moping. "He fights monsters instead of playing hopscotch."

I bit back a laugh. Watching Laguna play potsy with Ellone had been one of the funnier moments in my life. I'd seen them from an upstairs window, Laguna jumping along and fumbling after the marker, and laughed myself sick. That he'd seemed to be enjoying the game only compounded my mirth. It reinforced my opinion that he was an overgrown kid.

"Uncle Laguna is doing something very important, and you should remember that the next time he tells you about the Buchubuchus." I tugged playfully at Ellone's hair, and she giggled. "So what'll it be tonight?"

Ellone pretended to think. "Chocolate milk, straight up!"

"Good girl." I pulled the carton out from under the bar and mixed it with chocolate syrup in a plastic highball glass.

"Can I have a cherry?" Ellone banged her dangling feet against the bar, pleased with her "drink."

"_May_ I have a cherry," I reminded her. "Yes. And please don't kick the bar, Ellone." I fished a maraschino cherry out of the jar and gave it to her on a plate.

"Yummy!" Ellone squeaked, munching the fruit. She held up the long stem and showed it to me. "You know what Uncle Laguna can do with these? He can put it in his mouth and tie a knot in it! I wanna know how to do that!"

"I am _so_ not surprised…" I muttered under my breath. Ellone sipped at her milk and fell quiet. "Whatcha thinking about?" I asked, hunkering down so I was on eye level with her and made a silly face. Elle giggled.

"Do you think Uncle Laguna's gonna stay with us forever 'n ever?" she asked, making a silly face right back. "I don't want him to go back to the army. I want him to stay here with me!"

"I don't think Uncle Laguna is going to go back to the army, Elle, but I do think he wants to get a job writing somewhere."

"But he can write anywhere, right?"

_Not really_. I glanced at a crumpled old issue of Timber Maniacs stuffed into a cubbyhole above the refrigerator. Laguna's dream was to start working there as a journalist, and the publication was well-respected as an excellent independent 'zine. None of the government agencies had gotten their claws into it yet, and it could be depended upon for the straight truth. That aspect greatly appealed to the idealistic Laguna.

Elle didn't need false hope. "He wants to travel all around the world and tell people what he sees, and you can't do that just from Winhill, sweetie."

Her lower lip began to tremble. "Can I go too?"

"Go where?" The door had opened and there was Laguna, hair still damp from the shower. "Where are we goin'?"

"Raine says you're goin' all round the world!" Ellone burst out, tears shining in her eyes. "I don't want you to go, I want you to stay here and I want us to all be together forever and you and Raine should get married!"

My eyes flew open in surprise and I dropped Ellone's dirty glass on the floor. Laguna turned crimson. "Ellone!" I said, sharply, my own cheeks burning. "That's enough of that. You know better." I couldn't even look at Laguna as I handed him the promised beer. Ellone started to cry.

"Awww, Elle, I can't go anywhere yet, there are too many monsters here! I said I'd get rid of all the monsters, right?" Laguna pulled the sobbing Ellone onto his lap and patted her back. "Please don't cry, 'cause it makes _me_ cry when _you_ cry!"

"Then you're gonna stay with me and Raine?" she said, her voice quivering.

"I'm not going anywhere now," Laguna replied firmly. "I promise." I escaped to the sanctuary of the kitchen and left them alone.

"Get a grip, Raine," I said to myself through clenched teeth. "No romance, no marriage, Laguna leaves eventually. That's what's going to happen. Get over it." I splashed cold water on my burning face and washed Elle's glass. When I came back out, Ellone was giggling on Laguna's lap.

"Look! I told you!" she sang, holding out a cherry stem with a knot in it. "Isn't that _neat?_"

"It's pretty cool, all right," I said. "What a talent." Laguna snorted and I checked my watch. "It's about naptime, Elle. Let's go."

"I don't want a nap!" she cried, grabbing on to Laguna. "No no no!"

Laguna gave me an I'll-take-care-of-this look and stood up, still holding Ellone. "Naps are good," he told her, walking toward the stairs. "I'm gonna go have a nap right after you because I'm pretty tired! Even grown-ups need a nap sometimes."

"Really?" Ellone said. "You need to nap too?"

"Yeah, sometimes," he replied, voice trailing off as he ascended the staircase. "I'll read you a story, how about that?"

I set about picking up after them, tossing Laguna's empty bottle into the bin with more violence than I'd intended. It wasn't fair. I wanted Ellone's happy-ever-after scheme as much as she did, but I didn't dare to wish for it with like she could with her natural child's hope and faith. What the hell could a backwater like Winhill offer to a vagrant soldier with itchy feet? Why didn't he leave and end my personal hell? Then maybe the dreams would stop and I could get back to life the way it was before.

Love. I couldn't bring myself to say or even think the word except in the most transient of thoughts, but it was there all the same. _What cruel jokes Fate plays_, I thought cynically. It wasn't worth dwelling on, but a clean break would work so much better than the eternal tease of his presence.

The heat was making me irritable and I tugged viciously at the knotted hair at the nape of my neck, the stabs of pain pulling my mind away from Laguna. I twisted the dark mass into a chignon, arranging it with deft fingers, and pinned it securely with the clip.

Laguna was so quiet coming back downstairs that I didn't see him, and I must have jumped a foot in the air when he tapped me on the shoulder. "Oh sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he said, keeping his voice low. "She's out cold. I think we could all use a siesta in this heat."

My heart was racing from the surprise and his proximity. "Thanks," I said, trying to sound cavalier. "I'm sorry about the marriage thing. You know how kids get these ideas."

"Yeah…kids." Laguna cocked his head at me and narrowed his eyes. "Your hair looks pretty like that."

"Oh… thank you. It's really nothing special." I put a hand to the back of my neck, feeling self-conscious.

"If you say so," he replied with a smile. "I'll see you later. Ellone has the right idea." I watched him go, blushing.

"He said my hair was pretty," I murmured, obscurely pleased like a schoolgirl with her first crush. "Hah." I smoothed the flyaways down and went back to work.

The usual suspects started to pile in around dusk. Laguna was back from patrol and buzzing around the bar, heartily greeting his friends and settling in for a game of cards and some beers. He had appointed himself as the sometime bouncer, and he did help keep things from getting too rowdy. Laguna wasn't as tall as some of his former compatriots, but he was scrappy and quick, and stronger than he looked. Most of the soldiers who'd thought to challenge him had found that out the hard way. I appreciated his presence, since he was saving me a small fortune in chairs.

Another bunch of soldiers walked in the front door, and my hands tightened on the bar when I saw who was with them. "I can't believe Varro has the nerve to come back here," I muttered. He was a nasty drunk to who tended to get too interested in women when under the influence, and last time I'd been his target. His buddies had just about beaten him into submission to get him to leave me alone.

Laguna glanced over, saw my tense face, and got up. "Everything okay?" he said, softly.

I jerked my chin at the loud soldier. "That guy has given me a lot of trouble in the past. I'm surprised he's back after the last time."

Laguna's expression hardened. "He better not try anything."

"Maybe he's learned to behave himself." I watched Varro for a minute and saw him pinch the rear end of one of the soldiers' girlfriends and get slapped. "Or maybe not."

"Jackass." Laguna sighed and folded his arms. "Can't live with 'em, can't shoot 'em. Too bad."

He went back to his game of cards but didn't venture too far away from the bar for the rest of the night, and words could not have expressed how grateful I was. Varro had been cadging free drinks from his buddies with bluster and flattery all night long, and he was definitely drunk. As the other girls in the bar took their leave and disappeared, I was more and more concerned that he'd remember his favorite target.

Laguna excused himself to go to the bathroom, and Varro, sensing that my protector was absent, ambled over to the bar. "Hey, good lookin'," the big man said, speech slurred from drink. "You din' come say hello to me. I'm hurt."

I didn't look up at him. "Go home, Varro. You're drunk." I tried to turn away, but he caught my wrist.

"Don' be like tha'," he said, weaving slightly. "All you girls wan' is a big tough guy… like me." He pulled on my arm as I tried to break his grip, which was quite strong despite his inebriation. "How 'bout a little kiss?"

"Leave her alone." Laguna materialized next to Varro, green eyes blazing. "Get out of here and go home."

"You gonna make me, half-pint?" Varro pulled himself up to his full six-foot-two height and sneered. "Who're you, her boyfriend?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna make you." Laguna was dangerously quiet. "And when I'm through kicking your sorry ass, you'll never come back here again."

The big soldier laughed uproariously, expecting his buddies to join in. Most of them kept quiet – they'd seen Laguna in action, and while he got his fair share of battering, he could dish it out as well as anyone else. "You? Kick my ass?" He let me go and swaggered up to Laguna. "I got this feeling it'll be the other way round."

My hands were fisted tightly and I was breathing hard. "Leave, Varro. Now. I don't want any trouble, and you are trouble."

"Maybe I _want_ trouble, girly." He reached across the bar and gave me a hard shove, and I screamed as I fell to the ground, bounced off the back wall. Glasses shattered around me, and I covered my head, shrieking.

Laguna erupted into a blur of motion, seizing Varro by the back of the shirt and hurling him away from the bar. I huddled behind the bar, frightened and shaking, listening to the sound of the scuffle. I couldn't see what was going on – I could only hear the blows falling. Sick with worry for Laguna, I crept to the edge of the bar and peeked around.

The soldiers had moved as much of the furniture out of the two combatants' way as they could. Laguna and Varro were circling one another, looking for an opening. Varro was big and heavy, and dangerously drunk. "Laguna…" I whispered. "What the hell are you doing?"

Varro was swinging at Laguna, his fists coming dangerously close to the smaller man as Laguna dodged. He spun a chair into Varro's path, and Varro stumbled over it, giving Laguna the chance to drive his fists into Varro's abdomen. The breath whooshed out of the drunk man's lungs, but it didn't seem to slow him down much, and he retaliated with a blow to Laguna's jaw that sent him reeling.

"Laguna!" I screamed, pressing my hands to my mouth. He straightened up and spat blood, gingerly working his jaw. Oh Hyne… please don't let him get too hurt, I prayed.

"Stay there, Raine," he warned, as Varro started another rush. Laguna moved aside at the last moment and tossed him over his hip, and Varro hit the floor with a crash. Laguna was on him in seconds, twisting the prone man's arms up behind his back and pinning him to the ground with a strategically placed knee. He seized Varro by the hair and slammed his head into the floor.

"Are you done, asshole?" Laguna snarled. "I don't ever wanna see your face here again. And if you get within a hundred meters of Raine, I'm gonna kill you. That's a promise."

I couldn't hear Varro's response, but Laguna must not have liked it, because he twisted the other soldier's arm even harder. I was thunderstruck to see Laguna so angry – his behavior was completely out of character. I could barely reconcile the focused man defending my honor in a bar brawl with his usual airy demeanor. The annoying voice in the back of my head sang, _something must have gotten him really upset, Raine_.

Varro was capitulating, gauging by the motion of his head. Laguna let him get up but kept a firm grip on his arms. Another soldier opened the door, and Laguna shoved Varro out the door and slammed it. He turned around, blood still trailing down from his mouth, and glared at the silent assemblage. "I think it's time to call it a night," he said, folding his arms across his chest.

The soldiers burst into applause and stood up to leave – I had the feeling that they didn't like their abusive compatriot either. Laguna received many pats on the back and handshakes as they filed out. He seemed to barely notice, focusing instead on me. As soon as the last man had left, he hurried over and crouched next to me on the floor.

"Are you all right? Did you get hurt when he threw you against the wall?" Laguna inspected me for signs of a cut, looking worried.

"I think I'm all right," I said, voice quavering. "Laguna – your mouth…" I fumbled for a wet towel and tried to clean the ribbon of scarlet off his cheek.

"It's okay, it's okay," he soothed, steadying my shaking hands. "As long as that lummox didn't hurt you….sorry about the language, by the way." I tried to laugh, but it came out as a sob.

"Oh, Raine…" Laguna put his arms around me and let me rest my head on his shoulder. "What an ass… you must have been so scared. Let it out if you got to. It's okay." I burst into tears, burying my head in his coat, and he gently patted my head while the fear and anger bled away.

When the torrent of jerking sobs abated, I stood away from him and dried my eyes. "Are you feeling better?" he asked. "Yeah?" I nodded and gave him a wan smile. "That's good. I swear, if I ever see that guy again, it's not gonna be pretty."

"Thank you, Laguna," I said, quietly. "I'm glad you were here."

"Don't mention it," he smiled. "It's all part of the job description. I hunt monsters, and that big jerk qualifies." Laguna ran a tentative hand along the side of his face, wincing. "He sure hits hard though."

"Here, take this, please -" I filled a plastic bag up with ice and held it to the injured area, which was already starting to bruise. "Oh, Laguna, your poor face…" He took the makeshift pack from me and pressed it against the sore spot.

"Aaaah, it's not so bad. It'll be fine by tomorrow. I've been in worse shape, as you know all too well. You going to be okay here?"

"I think so," I said slowly, wanting to ask him to stay with me but unable to push the words past my unwilling lips. "You too?"

"Yep, no big deal." He gave me a salute. "Just ensuring the safety of the Commander. Can I help you clean up the glass?"

"That would be a big help." I picked up a dustpan and started pushing glass into it. Laguna grabbed a broom and some water and rags to mop up the spilled liquor.

"What a waste of good whiskey," he said, giving the label of a shattered bottle a wistful look. "It smells like it was good stuff."

"I keep the best stuff behind the bar," I said. "This isn't the first time a bottle has hit the floor, though this is the biggest mess I've ever had back here."

"Makes sense." We worked quickly to get the broken glass cleaned up and soon we were finished. I'd worry about the furniture tomorrow – it had been a long night. Laguna picked up his ice pack again and breathed a sigh of relief as the cold touched his swelling jaw.

"Thank you again, Laguna." I said quietly, clasping my hands in front of me. "For helping me clean up, and for taking care of Varro."

"Hey, it was nothing." Laguna stood in front of me, looking down, and for a breathless instant I thought he was going to bend down and kiss me. But he didn't. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

I nodded. "Keep ice on that bruise," I said. "If you need anything…"

"I know where to come," he finished. "See you soon."

Laguna left, and I was all alone. _Don't you wish he'd tried to kiss you_, the voice whispered. I hugged myself, remembering the feel of his strong arms around me, and the warm scent of his coat as I cried all over it. I would nearly have sold my soul to repeat the experience, and I hated myself for it.

"He's going to leave, Raine," I said to myself, and the tears sprang to my eyes again. "And he's not right for you anyway." The truth was cold comfort as I put my head down to my arms and cried.


	8. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

_Catalyst_. Definition: an agent that provokes or speeds significant change or action. I looked up that word in the dictionary after the events of that fateful summer, realizing that catalyst was the best way to describe the dark man who walked into my bar one warm morning. Laguna didn't know it at the time, and neither did I, but he was the turning point in our relationship – though it didn't happen right away.

One might have thought that the night of the bar fight would have been a catalyst for our relationship – with me as the damsel in distress and Laguna as the rescuing savior. It didn't happen. Instead, things continued much the same as always. I bit down hard on the moment of weakness and resolved not to let it happen again, returning to my usual acerbic manner with Laguna.

It wasn't hard to do. Every time serious thoughts of initiating a relationship stole into my head, Laguna would do something silly or downright stupid, and I would be left wondering at the end of the day what I had ever been thinking. Like the time he thought he'd build a treehouse for Ellone, and ended up falling out of the branches with a handful of nails and a hammer. A tetanus shot and a bruised tailbone later, Laguna gave up that idea. Then there had been a large bouquet of assorted wildflowers and poison ivy that had materialized in the bar because he "knew I liked flowers." It would have been a sweet gesture if he hadn't spread the irritant from the leaves all over himself, and it had been a truly miserable week of oatmeal baths and calamine lotion and cortisone. To add to the annoyance, Laguna's house had no tub, just a shower, so I had to give up my bathroom every so often so he could get some relief from the itching.

It had been a hot summer, but August brought some relief, and the storms that had come nearly every day at the height of the heat had tapered off, to Ellone's relief. She didn't like the noise or the sudden flashes of light, and if Laguna was anywhere in the vicinity, he could count on having a four-year-old wrapped around his torso for the duration of the storm. The rains had made the year's flowers particularly profuse and lovely, and I took pleasure in designing new arrangements for the tavern tables, even if they went largely unappreciated by my patrons.

The morning it started to change dawned bright, clear, and cool. I was working at the bar, setting things up for the day, and Ellone was playing on the floor. Laguna was at his house, resting up after the morning's exertions. The door opened, and I spoke without looking up. "Sorry, we're closed!"

"That's too bad. I've come a long way," a voice returned. I raised my head, startled, and saw a dark, lean man in black body armor in the doorway. Twin blades rested in scabbards at his hips, jogging a memory. He looked familiar, though I couldn't place it.

"May I help you?" I said, putting down my dishtowel and coming out from behind the bar. Ellone was watching the newcomer with wide eyes. "Are you looking for someone?"

"I am, as a matter of fact. The soldiers at the garrison said he might be here…"

Recognition clicked. "Wait a minute. I know who you are. I've seen your picture. You're Laguna's friend – Kiros, right?"

"So he _is_ here." White teeth flashed in a smile. "I've been looking for him for a while. I didn't expect he'd end up somewhere quiet like this, though. Laguna always gravitated towards noise." Kiros' gaze sharpened and came to rest on me.

I spread my hands and laughed. "Don't get the wrong idea. It wasn't his first choice, believe me. Come on inside and sit if you're tired. My name's Raine – I own this pub."

Kiros inclined his head graciously and shut the door behind him, but he didn't sit down. "Thanks. A glass of water would be great. The road's dusty."

I filled up a glass and added a twist of lemon. "Easily done," I replied, handing him the water. "How long have you been looking for Laguna?"

"A long time," Kiros said, drinking deeply. A motion near his legs caught his attention and he glanced down, an amused smile creeping across his face. Ellone had been trying to sneak up on him, curious as a cat. "And who are you, little girl?"

"My name's Ellone," she said, giving him a very assessing gaze for one so young. "An' I'm not little – I'm four!" She held up four fingers.

"My mistake," Kiros said, gravely. "Are you Laguna's friend, too?"

"Yep!" Elle gave him a brilliant smile. "Uncle Laguna's my bestest friend in the whole world."

"_Uncle_ Laguna?" Kiros' eyebrow rose a fraction of an inch.

"Don't worry, they're not related," I said. "She calls him that because they're so close."

"I see." Kiros did not look convinced. "Where is… _Uncle_ Laguna? Can I talk to him?"

"Sure, but I think he's probably resting after patrol. He ought to be here soon, once his stomach gets the better of him," I replied. Kiros chuckled.

"I'll go get him!" Ellone chirped, bouncing. "Please!"

"No. You promised you wouldn't sneak over there again. Even Uncle Laguna was mad at you last time you went outside without an adult around." _Well, as mad as Laguna gets where she is concerned._

"But this is 'portant!" she protested, itching to leave.

My voice rose on a warning pitch. "Ellone…"

Ellone huffed and stood by the door, bouncing from foot to foot. "Pokey!"

I shook my head. Kiros looked amused by the spectacle. "I wonder why she and Laguna get along so well. They're so…different." The corner of his mouth twisted in irony.

At that moment, I decided I liked Laguna's friend. Anyone with that dry a wit couldn't be all bad. "I take it you have a long history with my guest. Where did you and Laguna meet?"

"We met in the army," he replied, opting to pull up a chair and settle by the bar. Even sitting, Kiros towered over me, and I had to crane my neck to look up at him. "He and Ward and I were all in boot camp together, and we clicked. The draft threw us all in there together. They were getting desperate for new recruits; my hometown is even more remote than your outpost."

"I can imagine," I replied, admiring Kiros' exotic tribal braids. "Go on."

"Anyway, despite his penchant for trouble, Laguna had this way of schmoozing with the brass, and he got promoted first. After that… it got interesting."

I held up a hand to stay the story for a moment. "Sorry to interrupt. It's too quiet. Where's Ellone?"

"The front door's open. Do you think she sneaked out?"

"I don't think, I know it. Damn it." I rubbed my eyes. "She's picked up some bad habits from her best friend, including flouting rules."

Kiros laughed. "Tell me about it. We spent more time dodging angry officers… At least it was never boring. Between Laguna's lack of a sense of direction and poor organization regarding important things like _maps_, I think I saw more of Galbadia and Centra than anyone else in the army."

"We must trade stories sometime." A man-sized shadow passed across the stained-glass window, followed by the patter of small feet. "I think he's here."

"Hmm." Kiros stood up and leaned against the wall, almost melting into the shadows. "I doubt he's changed too much." I walked out from behind the bar to snag Ellone before she could disappear and evade the consequences of her behavior.

Ellone pushed open the door and ran inside, stopping dead at the look of thunder on my face. "Oops…"

"Ellone, you are in big trouble. You know you were supposed to stay here and not go outside," I scolded. "You know what that means?"

"Bed an hour early for a week," she said, sounding sulky.

"Good. Don't do it again. You understand, Ellone?" She nodded. "Now go to your room and play."

Laguna had followed her in – apparently he hadn't noticed Kiros yet. Ellone went over to commiserate with her partner-in-crime. I could just hear what they were saying. "I got in twouble."

"That's 'cause you broke your promise. Too baaaad..." Laguna said in a singsong voice.

"Laguna! Use proper English when speaking to Ellone!"

He shot me a withering look. "I got'n trouble," he whispered to Elle.

"Toooo baaad!" she mimicked, and they both giggled.

A dark shape separated itself from the wall, and Kiros walked into Laguna's line of view. "It's been a while, Laguna."

Laguna went white with shock, and a look of incredulous joy crossed his face. "Kiros!"

"You seem well," Kiros remarked, as Laguna joined us near the bar.

"Yeah, you too." Laguna looked like he couldn't quite believe that his friend was alive. "Hey, how long has it been? You know, our grand escape from Centra?"

Kiros looked unimpressed with the notion of a grand escape. "That was... One would usually call that being chased out..."

"I thought so." I resisted the urge to say more. I knew Laguna's tendency to exaggerate.

"Well, I would say about a year or so," Kiros finished.

"I was bed-ridden for over 6 months. It seemed like every bone in my body was in pieces," Laguna said, dramatically shivering. _Here we go with the war wounds_, I thought, catching Kiros' glance and discreetly raising a contradictory five fingers for the amount of months he had really been in bed with his injuries. Perhaps Laguna was trying to rationalize why he hadn't gone out looking for his friend.

"I nursed him back to health," I put in. Lucky me.

"Thank you for taking good care of Laguna," Kiros said to me, and I nodded. He turned his attention back to Laguna. "I was able to recover in about a month or so. Ever since then... I've been searching for you."

"Why?" Laguna didn't seem to understand.

"After leaving the army...Well, just killing time, I guess. Life's pretty boring without you as entertainment, my man."

I stifled a giggle. Laguna didn't look too happy about being someone's entertainment. "That's a harsh thing to say. I've been living a productive life here," he grumbled, glowering.

"I think I understand what you mean, though," I teased. If I forced myself to step back and look at the last year, it hadn't been boring. Trying, annoying, and frustrating, yes; but not boring. _That's just the bad stuff, Raine_, the voice in my head scolded. I told it to shut up and go back to sleep.

"So what do you want to know?" Kiros asked Laguna. Old friends catching up, I thought, and turned my attention to the bar, trying not to listen in too closely on their conversation. Laguna was full of questions about the third member of the troupe, the enigmatic Ward. It wasn't until the name "Julia" came up that my wandering interest came back with an unpleasant jolt.

"Tell me about Julia! Is she doin' okay?" Laguna pressed, fingers dancing over an imaginary piano. Kiros's dark eyes flashed to my face to register the expression.

"I don't know…" he hedged, trying to discourage Laguna. Kiros was no fool – I would have to watch myself around him, I thought, schooling my features back to neutrality. If he'd figured out in five minutes what had eluded Laguna for five months, then he was the brains of the outfit.

"You mean Julia the singer?" I asked, surprised. I would never have expected Laguna to know someone so famous.

"That's right. Laguna really admired her and always frequented the night club," Kiros replied.

"Shut up! So what if I did!" Laguna turned red.

"Julia used to sing at a night club?" That was news to me. Since I liked _Eyes on Me_ so much, I had read a few articles about Julia Heartilly. They hadn't mentioned stints as a lounge singer, though.

Kiros shook his head. "No, she didn't sing. She just played the piano."

"Then the first song she released was Eyes on Me?"

Laguna started. He stammered, "H-How does the song go?"

"You don't know?" I asked. I thought everyone had heard it by now. You could barely turn on the radio without hearing Julia.

"Well, you never let me hear it!" Laguna returned. That was true enough. If that song was playing when he came by, I turned the radio off.

"I didn't think you listened to music," I said, sidestepping the accusation. "The song's about being in love... I really like it."

"Heard she recently got married," Kiros remarked, watching Laguna out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh yeah!" I remembered there had been a big photo spread in _Celebrity Style_ when she tied the knot. "To some army general, right? General Caraway or something?"

Kiros shrugged. "I'm not too sure."

"I read in a magazine that her true love went off to war and never came back," I said, interested to hear some more gossip about my favorite singer. "General Caraway comforted her while she was feeling down. That's how they got to know each other."

"...So she didn't wait for the soldier to come back...?" Kiros' oddly pointed comment caused Laguna to flush. He looked very uncomfortable.

"So what! Who cares?" Laguna retorted, folding his arms. "As long as she's happy, right? That's all that matters!" He turned his back on us. "Ain't that right, Elle?" She had been listening in, as usual.

"Right!" Elle said. "Uncle Laguna and Raine are..."

Laguna yelped to cover the end of her sentence, which was "gonna get married," of course. Ellone hadn't let that rest, and I knew that Kiros' mention of marriage had set her off. She continued to hold out hope. "Okay, enough talk about this!" he said, grinning nervously. "Let's talk later." His gaze turned inward for a moment and he put a head to his forehead as if to check for fever.

"Laguna, are you all right?" I asked. "Is it the heat?"

"Sorry," he said, coming back to himself. "I think the faeries are here."

Kiros suddenly looked a little peaked himself. "...Faeries? Yeah, I guess so..."

"Then our work today should be a cinch." Laguna snapped his fingers, pleased.

"I'm looking forward to the battles," Kiros replied, with anticipation.

"Time to do some work." Laguna shouldered his gun and cocked his head at Kiros, who nodded assent. "So, what's your plan? You're gonna stick around here for a bit, right?"

"Would that be okay?" Kiros asked me.

"You work for what you eat. If that's fine with you, you're more than welcome," I answered. There was no reason not to hold him to the same standard as Laguna. If I was to have a third drain on my resources, then he could go out and kill monsters like his friend.

Ellone tugged on Laguna's pants. "Come back soon, okay?"

I waved them off. "Well, have fun at work. I'll have lunch ready." The two of them scurried off to eliminate insects, leaving Ellone and me alone.

"Uncle Laguna's friend is weird!" Ellone pronounced, staring out the window at the two men running across the town square. "Where did he come from?"

_Uncle Laguna's friend is a lot smarter than he is_, I thought. "He comes from a different part of the Planet, Elle, and I bet you could learn a lot from him." I gave her a stern look. "Didn't I tell you to go play in your room?"

"I don't wanna!" she pouted, sticking her lip out.

"You are in the doghouse for sneaking out of the house. Now, march. You can come out for lunch."

"No!" Ellone cried, bursting into tears. "You're mean! Uncle Laguna wouldn't send me to my room. He said I was a good girl!"

"Upstairs, Ellone," I said. "I mean it. Enough with the crocodile tears."

Sniffling, she went upstairs and I heard the door shut. She had to learn. It wasn't safe to run around outside without an escort. Especially since she was special. All of us here in Winhill dreaded the day when Esthar might come back. I followed her up to make sure that the door was closed and Ellone really was in her room.

So Kiros was going to stay with us. I sighed. Another mouth to feed, and another head that needed a pillow. There were extra linens in the bureau in the upstairs sitting room, and I pulled out clean white sheets to make up one of the other beds in Laguna's house. It had all happened so fast.

Something was bothering me about the conversation about Julia but I couldn't place it. It wasn't unreasonable for a fan to go to see his idol, was it? Had it meant anything? I tucked the linens and blankets under my arm, decided that Kiros' room was likely to be dusty as well, and pulled some cleaning supplies out of the hall closet. Bucket in hand, I walked over to Laguna's house.

He kept the downstairs neat, at least. I shivered when I saw the bullet holes in the wall, and Ellone's father and mother seemed to watch me from their pictures as I went upstairs. "I'm doing my best," I said softly, as if their spirits were still there and needed reassurance that I was taking care of their daughter.

The door to Laguna's room was open, and I peeked inside. Pillows were scattered near Ellone's toy piano – Laguna had been teaching Elle how to play. It was a talent I hadn't expected from him, but he had good taste in music. _Well, then, that would make sense that he would go to see a talented pianist_, I rationalized. Right? Right.

Next door was the guest room, with a single bed, nightstand, and chest of drawers. I didn't want to put anyone in Ellone's parents' old room. Dust flew as I sprayed the wood with cleaner and wiped up two years' worth of neglect. He and Laguna could share a bathroom. Sun filtered pleasantly into the room once the windowpanes had been cleaned, and I opened the window to let some fresh air in.

As I worked, I mulled the Julia question. Why would Laguna get so embarrassed if it were just an idol thing? It wasn't anything to be concerned about, to think someone was talented and to go to see her play. I knew I'd love to go see Julia in concert, but she was so famous now that it was very difficult to get tickets.

I pulled the slipcover off the mattress and made Kiros' bed, shaking the sheets out. Well, maybe Laguna was self-conscious about talking about his interest in front of people. Maybe he didn't think it was very manly. He could be funny that way.

Done. I checked my watch and decided to get started on lunch. Hopefully Kiros wasn't as much of a glutton as his friend. I went back to the pub kitchen and pulled out bread and sandwich stuffing. I switched on the radio, more for background noise than anything else, and soft rock spilled out of the speakers. I hummed to myself and sliced bread.

The chords to a familiar tune started up and I smiled. _Eyes on Me_, again. Julia started to sing, as she had so many times before, "Whenever sang my songs… on the stage, on my own…" Pretty. I hummed along.

Still singing. "You'd always be there in the corner… of this tiny little bar…" Music died in my throat. Laguna knew Julia. Laguna went to the bar to see Julia. Kiros' words rang in my ears: _Laguna really admired her and always frequented the night club_. And I knew from the magazines that Julia wrote _Eyes on Me_ about a soldier who would come to see her play.

Julia had written this song about her true love, who went off to war and never came back. Laguna went off to war and didn't come back because I'd found him instead. It was all coming together. The blood drained from my face and I put the knife down before it could drop from my fingers. Pieces were falling into place as the song wove into the conversation Laguna had had with Kiros about Julia.

_Julia had written Eyes on Me for the soldier who came to watch her play, and that soldier was Laguna_.

"So let me come to you… close as I wanted to be…" the song continued. Julia wrote those words when she was thinking about her true love. Julia's true love was Laguna. I put a hand to my face, stunned, as the shocking pain of realization hit me like a speeding train.

_Laguna went to see Julia at the nightclub because Laguna was in love with Julia._

_Laguna's true love is Julia._

Oh Hyne.

What a fool I'd been. My face burned with shame. What a fool I'd almost made of myself. Stupid Raine, pining after a soldier who was pining after someone else. It had all been in my head; my feelings, unrequited. The signals I thought he might be giving me – they were imaginary. All those nights I'd thought about loving him, and wondering whether he loved me in return – fruitless speculation in the face of this woman who wrote songs for him as he worshiped her from afar. And why would Laguna want to stay here in a small town with a small-town girl when he could have had the hand of Julia Heartilly, with the fame and fortune that would go with it?

At that moment, I hated Julia Heartilly-Caraway more than anyone in the entire world.

Hands shaking, I twisted the power dial on the radio so hard that the knob fell off in my hand. I felt numb, shaken. The sandwiches lay half-finished on the cutting board. I left them there and drifted upstairs, not really aware of anything but the heartache.

Ellone's goldfish swam around and around in its bowl, a little orange flicker, moving in circles and not really going anywhere. Kind of like me, I thought, getting myself all wrapped up in the might-have-beens and not concentrating on what was right in front of me. Circles and circles and misplaced hope over misplaced gratitude. I leaned back into a chair and stared at the ceiling.

"Raine?" Ellone stood in the hallway, peeking around the corner. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." I rubbed my eyes. "Everything's all right. I'm a little tired, I guess."

"Oops. I wasn't supposed to come out yet. Sorry." Ellone started to sidle back towards her room.

"It's all right, Elle." I put on a smile and stood up. At least I had my little girl. She beamed and came out, straightening her blue sundress.

"Raine?"

"Hm?" I rearranged the knickknacks on top of the bureau, not really listening.

Ellone looked wistful. "Raine...Aren't you gonna marry Uncle Laguna?"

Not likely any more, if it ever was, in light of recent events. "A guy like that?" I said, more to myself than to Elle. "He was carried in here crying like a baby, and I was the one who had to take care of him..." I shook my head, forcing myself to remember why Laguna wasn't good for me. "His crude way of speaking... I don't know if his aspirations as a journalist... Every time I try to have a serious conversation, he avoids it... I can't stand his snoring and he talks in his sleep..."

She looked shocked, and I realized that I had never been that frank with her before about my feelings for Laguna. "But he's really nice! I really, really like him! Raine, Uncle Laguna and Elle should all be together!"

"...But you know..." I said, "I think what he really wants to do is travel all over the world." I paced across the room, avoiding Ellone's quizzical gaze. "I don't think he has it in him to live in a quiet country town like this one. Some people are like that..." I thought about Julia and let the anger bubble up. "...Ouuu, it makes me so mad!"

Ellone's eyes were full of tears. "You don't like him?"

Well, if I couldn't be honest with myself, at least I could be honest with her. "...I feel the same as you, Ellone." She grinned at me as if she'd known it all along.

A sudden noise from the stairwell made me whirl and gasp in surprise. Laguna hurried up the stairs, followed by Kiros. The color was high in his cheeks, and his eyes were bright.

"Yeah! You're back!" Ellone cheered. Laguna looked out of breath.

"I came back… in a hurry!" he said, huffing ostentatiously. I couldn't help but notice that Kiros seemed far less out of breath than Laguna. Strange.

I schooled my features into a pleasant expression, lest the perceptive Kiros figure out that something was upsetting me. Laguna gave his usual report, standing at attention to deliver the numbers for the day's extermination. Kiros looked exasperated.

"All right! Thank you. Shall we eat before you get started with the next patrol?" I asked, lightly. "You seem pretty tired. You should take a quick nap."

"Let's eat, let's eat! Let's all eat together! You're joining us too, right Mr. Kiros?" Ellone looked at Kiros with big eyes. Kiros bowed elaborately to his small admirer.

"Go take a quick nap and we'll see you later." I tried to smile. Laguna waved goodbye and the two of them disappeared. "I'd better go finish lunch," I murmured. Lunch was the last thing on my mind.

Tallah used to say that the world ended every day, but life goes on. I had plenty of time to think about that while piling cold cuts onto rolls. It felt like my personal world had broken into a thousand pieces, but I had to get up and feed the two ex-soldiers and Ellone. I had to laugh. Irony abounds.


	9. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 **

As Tallah had said, life did indeed go on. Kiros seemed happy enough, for the moment, to follow his ex-commander around killing Caterchipillers and Bite Bugs. He was a thoughtful guest and pleasant company, even if he did roll his eyes for every monster report.

Laguna wasn't himself, though. Sensing (rightly, for once) that something had changed, he went from seeking attention to making a pest out of himself. I couldn't turn around without having him at hand. I couldn't understand it. Kiros was too reserved to say anything to him, or so I thought. Maybe they felt sorry for me.

August dragged on into September. The flower fields were lush with brilliant late blooms, their last riot of color before the season was over. It was pleasantly warm during the day; warm enough for a swim in the river now and then, but the nights had started to take on autumn's chill.

I didn't know why Laguna hadn't left. Kiros certainly wasn't intending to stay in Winhill for an extended amount of time – he had come a long way to find his friend, but his indulgence was only going to last so long. He was making plans to head back up to Timber in the middle of the month, but Laguna seemed reluctant to leave. I assured him that I was well able to take care of myself and that he ought to get on with his writing career.

I was upstairs in Laguna's house replacing the sheets on their beds when I heard them come back from patrol. I gathered up the bundle of pillowcases and sheets and started to come down the stairs when the sound of their voices reached me – Laguna was upset; Kiros, firm and ungentle.

"Come on, Kiros, cut me a break," he was saying, and I heard him drop his gun on the table downstairs. "I can't leave. I just… can't."

I backed up the stairs and pressed myself against the wall. I didn't want to get in the middle of their argument.

"You are not doing yourself or Raine any favors by behaving this way," Kiros snapped back at him. "You have to figure things out, because either you go one way or another."

_What do I have to do with any of this?_ I wondered, sidling closer to the top of the stairs to listen. Was I eavesdropping? That would be the word for it, yes.

"I know it's a good opportunity!" Laguna sounded frustrated. "Hell yeah, it's all I ever wanted, to make somethin' out of myself besides a soldier. But this town took good care of me and I can't just bail on them. Besides…"

"Besides?" Kiros was not sympathetic. "Besides nothing. Would you cut the bullshit and be honest with yourself? Or better yet, be honest with Raine. Man, you've pulled some stupid stunts in the past, but if you can't do _that_, then you rate about a minus _ten_ on the manliness scale."

"I don't know how she'd take it, you know… Nnngh, I just can't stand the uncertainty!" I heard a chair scrape on the floor and someone sat down. "They hate me here, you know. I put on a good face and deal with it, but they hate me, and it ain't good. They don't like any outsiders and they sure as hell don't like soldiers. They'd be real happy to get rid of me, though I keep tryin' to repay them. I keep trying to repay her, too. But how do you repay someone when you owe them your life? And then you add up the rest of it…" I heard Laguna's fist slam on the table.

"Don't underestimate Raine," Kiros told him. "You never know about these things. And something has to give. You know that."

"I don't wanna talk about this anymore," Laguna replied, standing up. "I'm going out. I'll see you later."

"Don't you want to rest up?" Kiros called after him.

"No!" I heard him shout back. "I got too much on my mind. Don't come with me. Please." I heard the door close and Kiros came back indoors, heading for the stairs. Aware that I would be in a very awkward situation if Kiros found me upstairs, I ducked inside Laguna's room and hid behind the door. Footsteps passed me in the hallway and the door to Kiros's room closed.

Stepping lightly on the creaky floor, I eased my way down the stairs and out the door, my heart racing. I nearly fell when I stepped sideways to avoid a loose board, but I didn't hear any movement from upstairs. No one was out in the square, and I gently opened the door and hurried home with my armload of wash. I didn't know what to make of the conversation I'd heard except for the confirmation of Laguna's misplaced gratitude. It hurt, but the damage had already been done. All that remained was to pack up his clothes and send him on his way with Kiros when Kiros left for Timber next week. The bitter part of me that wanted nothing more than to sever all the ties and make a clean break considered doing the packing for him. I knew I wouldn't, though. I loved him. I just knew I could never tell him.

Kiros came back to the pub later, alone. I was busy arranging things for the evening and making sure that the bar was stocked. It was a surprise to see him come back without Laguna, but if Laguna was out blowing off steam, then it made sense. Better to pretend I didn't know about that though. "Hello, Kiros," I said. "Where's Laguna? Didn't you two come back from patrol together?"

"Yes and no. He's around." Kiros settled onto a bar stool, brushing one long black braid over his shoulder. "He's got some things on his mind and deep thought doesn't come naturally to him."

"So you do it for him?" I couldn't resist the teasing gibe. We'd had some conversations when Laguna was occupied elsewhere, and we both understood that Laguna needed someone to grab him by the scruff of the neck before his nature got the best of him. Before the Centra incident, it had been Kiros' job. I took over from there.

"Something like that." Kiros chuckled and stretched one arm out until it cracked. "This monster hunting is getting me back into shape, I'll tell you that much."

I jerked my head towards the window. "Is he somewhere outside? Are you sure he's set by himself?"

"He'll be fine." Kiros waved a dismissing hand. "Laguna has some priorities to sort out."

"Oh really?" I fixed Kiros with my most piercing stare, which never failed to discomfit Laguna. He did not appear to be bothered. "Like what?"

"Put the fishing rod away, Madame Raine. If Laguna wants to tell you what's on his mind, he will," Kiros said. "I hate to ask, but I'm starving. Is there anything handy?"

"Hey, at least you ask, instead of standing in front of the refrigerator, ransacking my supplies, and drinking milk directly out of the carton," I returned. "I've got some cold chicken; is that good enough?"

"Perfect. Thanks." I went to prepare a plate. From the kitchen, I heard the door open – Laguna must have come in. "You're back," I heard Kiros say. "Feeling better?"

"A little…" was the response.

"So what are you doing next week, then?"

"Aw, don't harass me about that in here! Come on, man! It's lunchtime, for crying out loud."

I came out with Kiros' lunch and set it in front of him, then did a doubletake as I glanced at Laguna. He looked like he'd been dragged backwards by the heel through every bush and tree in Winhill. "Hyne, Laguna! What happened to you?"

"Some weird stuff going on out in the hills," he said, looking strained. "I was out… well, I was out walking, and of course I ran into some monsters, nothing out of the ordinary, right? Just those Bite Bugs and Caterchipillers. But I saw something else out there, and it worries me."

"What is it, Laguna?" Kiros said, concerned. "Some other new monster?"

"Yup. I saw a ruby dragon out wandering around. Luckily, they don't see too well, and I was downwind, so it didn't see me and I got away." Laguna pulled some bracken out of his hair. "I hid in a thicket by the river – you know, out where it curves over to the north and wells up deep?" I nodded. "It was going there for water. I don't know what it's doing here. They're not native to this region, either. I've never heard of one finding its way this far south."

"Do you think it will just go away?" I said, hoping the answer was yes. The town didn't have the resources to deal with ruby dragons. They were tough and nasty, and they used magic.

"I hope so," Laguna replied, scrubbing his eyes. "It would be a disaster if it came for this town. Dunno why it would, unless it was hungry. They eat meat, not bugs, so there's that risk."

"Not good." Kiros looked wary. "Too bad we can't tell the faeries to arrive and then go hunting. They're weak against Ice magic, and that one guardian force would probably make short work of it. The best defense is a good offense."

"Right you are, but we haven't got any magic, now that we're out of the service." I handed Laguna a wet towel, and he took it with a word of thanks, mopping dirt off his face.

"You've had a big day already," I said. "Are you hungry? You ought to eat and then go rest up. I changed your sheets."

"That'd be great. I'll have what he's having. Thanks a lot." Laguna looked tired. I called Ellone down from her room when I was finished making something to eat and we had lunch. Elle was her usual chatty self, but Laguna seemed preoccupied, and Kiros picked up the slack. We finished up and I gathered the plates. Kiros gave me a heartfelt thank-you and left.

"Are you going for a nap?" I asked Laguna, who was staring off into space.

"Oh… yeah. Yeah. I'm pretty tired." He offered a wan smile.

"Sleep well, then," I said. "You'll be back around dinner?"

"Yeah." Laguna stared at the tabletop, and I shrugged and turned for the kitchen. As I started to walk away, he called. "Raine?"

"Yes?" I answered, looking back over my shoulder.

"Umm… Kiros is going back to Timber next week, you know that, right?"

_Here it comes_. I suddenly found it difficult to breathe. "Yes, I know."

"Would… would it be all right if I stayed here? He'll make it to Timber all right once he gets to the train station."

I relaxed, minutely. "Why would you have to ask, Laguna? You know you can stay here. I don't mind."

"Well, yeah, I know… sorta…" Laguna looked up at me, and I was acutely aware of the strength of his green-eyed gaze. "Never mind. I didn't want to leave you and Elle all alone, and I know she'd miss me. I wouldn't want to make Elle unhappy, you know?"

"Of course. Whatever you want, Laguna." I resettled the dishes. "I'm going to take care of these. Why don't you head back home?"

He had brightened considerably. "Thanks! Um… well… okay, I'll see you later."

I nodded, and Laguna went back home. "That was very strange," I said to the air, and went to clean up the dishes.

A week later, Kiros set out for the train to Timber. "You're sure you want to stay here?" he asked, shouldering his bag.

"Yeah, yeah. You go have fun. If you see any of the other guys, tell 'em I said hi, will you?"

"Is there _something_… you want me to get for you while I'm away?" Kiros' question was laden with some unknown meaning, because Laguna flushed. Kiros shook his head and his braids shivered on his back. "Never mind. See you in a week, Laguna." The two friends took their leave and Kiros set out down the road.

I looked at Laguna curiously. "What was that all about?"

"Nothing!" he replied, quickly. "Nothing at all. Hey, I think I hear Ellone calling. G'bye!" Laguna scurried off before I could question him any further. I shrugged and went out back to start splitting bulbs from the spring flowers for the next season. A little later, Ellone and Laguna came out to settle on the grass and enjoy the sun. Elle started picking clover blossoms for a daisy chain.

"Are you goin' out on patrol again today, Uncle Laguna?" I overheard her ask him.

"Yep, in a while," he answered. "I gotta make sure that a dragon stays where it belongs, so I can protect you."

"A dragon!" Elle squeaked. "Eek! Is it big?"

"Pretty big and scary," he said. I glanced up at him and saw Elle drape a flower circlet on his head. I hid a smile and continued to dig in the dirt. A large clump of daffodil bulbs surfaced and I began to divide them.

"You look pretty!" Elle sang. Her little face changed, and in seconds, she was all seriousness. "Uncle Laguna?" she asked, patting his knee.

"Yes, Elle?"

"Who protects you when you go out to protect us?"

"Kiros helps me, kiddo," he answered, tousling her hair. "Most of the time I'm pretty much okay, so don't worry!"

"But Kiros isn't here," she pointed out. "Raine says he went away. What are you going to do now?"

"Same as always, Elle," he replied. "I'm gonna go out and hunt monsters."

"But there's a dragon!" she mock-whispered. "I don't want the dragon to get you, either."

"It won't. And you know I'll always come to rescue _you_, Elle. Come on, you want to go play catch?"

"Yeah! I'll get the ball, okay?" Ellone hugged Laguna and dashed off inside. I rocked back on my heels and shoved dirt back over the new plantings. Laguna sprawled out on the grass and watched me pinch off dead blooms from the other plants on the garden.

"You look like the earth mother, pushing flowers around like that," Laguna said, startling me. I arched an eyebrow at him and laughed.

"You look like a lovely wood nymph with that crown on your head," I returned, raking sticks out of the soil. "You're a good sport to let Elle dress you up." Laguna chuckled and shook the chain of flowers off his head.

"It makes her happy, I guess. But I think this would look better on you," he joked, standing up with the crown in his hand.

I ducked to the side and brushed irritably at the advance of the ring of blossoms. "Knock it off – go put that somewhere else! You big pest."

Laguna evaded my halfhearted brushoff and dropped the ring onto my head, and the petals caught in my hair to keep it from sliding off. I made a face at him, but he was laughing. "Now who looks like a wood nymph?" His laughter trailed off, and I was aware again of the weight of his regard. It made me uncomfortable and a little angry, since I knew too much about where his heart lay. This kind of flirtatious teasing, innocent or not, was more than I could stand right now.

"All right, all right, enough," I grumped, brandishing a trowel. "Go find something useful to do, would you please?" I pulled the clover blossoms off my head and fixed my attention on the dirt.

Laguna went out on patrol that week without his comrade-in-arms. I knew he was worried about the dragon, and I was worried about what would happen if he ran into it. He wouldn't survive a close encounter. Every night I was tense until he walked through the door, and Elle picked up on it. She fretted enough for the both of us, especially if Laguna came home much past sunset. "You make me worry so much!" she would scold, shaking her finger at him in unconscious imitation of me.

Not really understanding why Laguna hadn't gone with Kiros dragged on me. I didn't want to give myself false hopes, but at the same time, I couldn't help it. I was irritable and unhappy, snapping at Laguna and regretting it later. I regretted it more when I would see the expression of hurt surprise registering on his face when I took my heartache out on him. But I had to admit that as wrong as it was, I wanted to make him as upset as I was, even if he was unaware of what was wrong. No one ever called me a saint.

The weather that week reflected my moods, and I imagined that the uncertain skies above were caused by my state of mind, as silly as it was. Even if the silent sorceress abilities were awakening – and I knew they wouldn't, ever – no magic could affect the weather. It pleased me to think so all the same. It made Ellone anxious when Laguna was out when it looked like a storm might be brewing, and she would sit out on the front stoop until he came home. I was too proud to sit with her, but it didn't mean I didn't want to.

The weather had been spoiling for a serious blow all day long. Appropriately, I felt the same way. Laguna was bewildered by my change in attitude, and he had been harassing me to talk to him about what was bothering me all day long. "Come on, Raine," he coaxed. "I know something's bothering ya! You can tell me, I'm your friend, right?"

And therein lies the problem, I thought cynically. It wasn't Laguna as a friend that I wanted. I concentrated hard on keeping my temper. "I'm all right, Laguna," I answered, trying to keep my tone level. "Nothing's wrong."

"I don't believe that," Laguna replied, coming around inside the bar and insinuating himself between me and my work. Annoyed, I put my hands on my hips and glared at him. "You've been walking around here like a stray stormcloud, and it's not like you. What's up?" I turned my back on him and started mopping the top of the bar with a rag. He laid a gentle hand on my shoulder. "Raine, don't turn away, huh? I'm worried 'bout you." Laguna meant to be comforting, but the warmth of his touch was anything but.

_Please, please don't touch me, _I begged him in my head. _What's wrong is that I love you, and you're leaving, and I don't know why you don't leave and get it over with,_ I thought. I shrugged his hand off my shoulder and turned to face him. Laguna looked confounded. "Laguna, stop it," I said. "Don't. Just… don't."

"I don't understand," he said.

"Never mind." I sighed and pushed a stray lock of hair away from my face. The words were close to the surface, but I couldn't say them. "Why, Laguna? Why didn't you go with Kiros to Timber? Don't you want to get started on that career you're forever talking about?"

"Is that what's bothering you?" Laguna asked, incredulous. "Do you really want me to leave?"

I shook my head. "I don't understand why you want to stay here in this nowhere place when you have bigger and better things calling you. I mean…" I forced the half-truth out past a lump in my throat. "Ellone and I got along without you, Laguna. And we can get along fine if you leave. If you have a dream…" I almost choked. "If you have a dream, you should be out following it, not cooling your heels here in Winhill."

"I don't know what to say," he answered.

"Then don't say anything." I brushed past him, maintaining an iron grip on my emotions. I paused at the bottom of the stairs and turned back. Laguna was staring at me from behind the bar. "Don't get suckered in here, Laguna. Get out there and make a life for yourself. I know better than anyone that it won't come here to find you." He made a move as if to reply, but I had disappeared through the door to the upstairs. A little while later, I heard the front door bang, and I knew he was gone.

The pain was too deep for tears. I settled for curling up on my bed and staring out at the trees, which were starting to show the faintest hint of color. I heard Ellone rattling around the house like a pea in a coffee can, but all I could see was the gray sky beyond my window. Laguna came in a later, and I heard him talking to Ellone, but I didn't move to come out of my room. He came up the stairs and tapped on my door.

"Raine?" I heard through the wood. "Raine, I'm going out… Are you in there?" I didn't answer. Footsteps scuffled outside my door, and then went away. I went to the window and watched as he ran off down the main street with his gun on his back. I put a hand up to the windowpane in silent farewell and got up. The sky was darkening, and I went downstairs and out onto the stoop. Ellone was playing with her dolls on the floor of the tavern. She came out with me and leaned against my leg.

"Where did Uncle Laguna go, Elle?" I asked, dropping down beside her to sit on the step.

"He went out to fight monsters," she said. "But he seems sad. Why would Uncle Laguna be so sad?"

I felt guilty. "I got mad at him," I admitted. "I didn't mean to."

"Why would you be mad at Uncle Laguna?" Elle asked, sounding reproachful.

"You'll understand when you're older," I said, not wanting to get into it with her. I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself as a cold wind began to blow across the square. Ominous clouds were gathering on the horizon, and I could see lightning shivering far away. "I hope he gets back all right…" I murmured. "Storm's coming."

Ellone and I went back inside once the wind started. Thunder growled in the distance, and rain began to patter against the windows. The approaching clouds hurried the sunset, and I lit the candles and lamps on the tables.

Elle was fretting, and I sat against the wall of the bar, listening for the familiar boot-tread on the steps outside. I knew that the dragon was out there – and I knew that Laguna was, too. "Hyne, let him be all right," I whispered. "I love him."

"Uncle Laguna must be in trouble," Elle moaned, her eyes wide and frightened. "We should go look for him! What if the dragon got him?"

"Ssssh, now, Elle. We can't go outside looking!" A crash of thunder shook the house, and Elle screamed and grabbed onto my arm.

"Please, please! We have to find him!" she sobbed.

"In this weather? No, Elle." I hugged her and then stood up. "I'm going upstairs to see if he's anywhere in sight. Can you stay down here?" She nodded. "Okay. I'll be down soon."

From all the windows of the pub, I couldn't see any trace of Laguna, even in the brilliant flashes of lightning. "Please come back…" I whispered. "Please come home." I didn't know how long I stood at the window, staring out into the black, my mind in turmoil. Slowly I became aware that it was, again, too quiet downstairs. A horrible thought stole into my mind, and I raced down the steps. "Oh, Hyne… no!" I gasped. "Elle!" Her raincoat and galoshes were missing and there was water on the floor near the door. "Oh no," I moaned. "She's out there all alone." Frantic, I grabbed my own raingear and ran out into the whipping wind and rain.

I must have covered half the surrounding countryside, screaming for Elle at the top of my lungs. She was nowhere to be found. I stumbled through fields and over streams swollen with rainwater, watching fearfully for a small form carried along by the current. My face was streaked with rain and tears of fright, and after an hour of searching, I came back to the pub – hoping against hope that she had found her way home.

She wasn't there. My heart fell and I shook with terrified sobs. Suddenly weak in the knees, I leaned against the front of the pub, heart hammering against my chest.

"Raine!" someone yelled, and I spun around, not daring to hope. There, racing through the driving downpour, was a familiar figure in a sodden blue jacket. And in his arms was a small, crying girl in a yellow raincoat.

"Oh, Hyne!" I gasped, "You found her!"

"I didn't find her first," he said, eyes hard and focused. "The dragon did that. I got her away from it."

I took the sobbing Ellone into my arms. "What do you mean?"

"The dragon found Ellone out wandering and decided she would make a good snack," Laguna said, fingers tightening around the grips of his gun. "I had a couple of the spider webs those Caterchipillers drop with me and I slowed it down enough to grab her out from under its nose. But it knows where I went and it's coming for Winhill."

I went white. "You're not going to fight that thing, are you?"

"I have to, Raine," he told me. "I can't let it hurt anyone here, and it will. It was pretty pissed off. Take Elle inside and lock the doors."

"I'll take Ellone inside, and then I'm coming with you," I said, starting for the door.

"No! You're not!" Laguna seized me by the shoulders, and his forcefulness stopped my thoughts dead in their tracks. "If either of you got hurt, I'd never forgive myself. Stay here, Raine. I mean it. _Please_." Then, before I could protest, he pulled me close and kissed me, hard.

My entire being focused for one brilliant moment on the fleeting sensation of his mouth on mine. Stunned and silent, I could only watch dumbly as Laguna turned away from me and ran for the entrance of town. I raised a wondering hand to my lips, unable to believe what had happened. Could it be, my mind whispered as I stood in the driving rain, could it be that I had been wrong?

First things first. I needed to take care of Ellone, but my mind was racing. The crossbow was still under the bar, and there were some modifications I could make to my arrows that might help in the fight. I was being a fool to follow him and I knew it, but there was no way in all hells that I was going to let Laguna get himself killed. Ellone – and I – needed him too much. Maybe he was going to leave after all, but that simple kiss was full of promise, and I wasn't going to let it go now that I'd seen it.

I carried Elle indoors and helped her out of her rainjacket and boots. "Hey, sweetie," I whispered, pushing wet hair out of her eyes. She was shivering and tears were rolling down her cheeks. "You're home. Uncle Laguna came to save you. Are you okay?" She started to sob again, and I gathered her up into my arms and started carrying her upstairs. "Come on, let's get you out of these wet things."

"I'm sorry!" she cried piteously, as I shushed her and rocked her. "I didn't… didn't mean to get'n trouble!"

"It's all right," I soothed, helping her out of her wet clothes and wrapping her in a towel. "I'm not mad at you. I'm very, very happy you're all right." I rubbed her hair with the towel to dry it and took some warm pajamas out of her drawers. "Let's put these on, okay? You're warm and safe now in your own room, and there's no more dragon to hurt you."

"There is so," she whispered, as I tucked her into bed. "Uncle Laguna is going to fight it."

"Uncle Laguna will be all right," I said. _I hope._ "You'll see." I pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Can you try and go to sleep?" She was half asleep already, and gave a little nod. "Sleep tight," I whispered, shutting the door behind me. Time to get down to business.

I pulled my raingear out of the closet – long coat, boots, and gloves. Under the bar was my crossbow, and assorted junk spilled over the floor as I roughly pulled the weapon and quiver out. Somewhere in the mess was the item I was looking for… I poked around, hands flying with urgency, until my scrabbling fingers closed over a small leather bag with a vial inside. I pulled it out and removed the vial with shaking fingers.

Inside the vial was the last of my slowpoison, a remnant of the monster hunting I'd done as a youngster. I hoped – prayed – that it was still effective. I unscrewed the cap, carefully despite shaking fingers, and picked up one of my spilled quarrels. I twisted the head of the arrow into the poison, and held it above the surface of the liquid so the excess could drip back. Once it was dry, I put it into the quiver. I was able to treat five quarrels before the meager supply was exhausted.

The crossbow was ready. I knew I could never match Laguna for brute strength, but the slowpoison might even the odds a little. I dressed for the weather and slung the bow over my shoulder. "Let's go hunting," I whispered, and hurried out into the waiting dark.


	10. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

I banged on the door of the item shop, and when there was no answer, I banged harder. "Open up, Chas!" I yelled. "I know you're in there! It's important!" My chest heaving and my nerves thrumming with tension, I stood waiting under the sill of the door, water running in cold fingers down my back. A few minutes later, the top portion of the door opened, and the proprietor appeared. I knew I must look like a madwoman with the crossbow over my shoulder. I didn't care.

"What do you want at this hour, Raine?" Chas said, crossly. "I was about to go to bed." His eyes widened as he took in my armed and ready state. "Where the hell are you going?"

"Out," I said, impatient. I pulled a wad of damp gil notes out of my pocket and thrust them at him. "I want as many potions as this will buy me." Chas gave me a strange look, picking the money up reluctantly.

"You're not going out fighting, are you? Aren't you old for it, Raine? And haven't you got a kid in the house to take care of?"

"Stop with the questions and get me the potions," I ordered. "This is important. _Do_ it, Chas!"

"This has something to do with Laguna, doesn't it," he said, flatly. "That goddamn outsider bastard. I'm not gonna lift a finger for him. You can keep your money."

Enraged, I reached across the counter, grabbed his shirt, and pulled him as close as I could. "Get over yourself. Laguna's not the problem; you are. He's a good man and all you can think about is how he used to be in the army and he's not from around here. Take your attitude and shove it." I released his shirt, and Chas fell back, looking shell-shocked. "_Now get me the potions_."

He wandered off towards the back of the room and returned shortly with five Hi-Potions. "It's all I've got," he explained. "Sorry."

"I'm sure." I shoved the money at him. "Take it. I'm leaving."

I shoved the Potions into my pockets and started running. _Where the hell is he_, I thought, keeping to the trail out of town. The rain had tapered off and the clouds were breaking, letting weak moonlight filter down onto the hills. Lightning flickered on the horizon – the storms weren't through, so I had to make the most of what light there was.

In the distance, I could hear the echoes of gunfire, and I saw a blaze of bright light. I started running faster, nearly falling over my feet in my haste, my feet slipping on the slick grass. The report of the gun was closer now, and I ran through a stand of trees and up a hill, following the sound.

There he was, firing away at the ruby dragon, which was bigger and nastier than I had even imagined. Crimson scales shone in the fleeting moonlight, and its stunted wings sent eddies of wind through the soaking grass. It raised its ruffed head and roared, coiling back for another snap at Laguna. He dodged – but barely. He looked like a knight in a fairy tale, heroically battling a much larger foe for the glory of the kingdom. Only it was plain that this dragon was much smarter than the fairy-tale drakes, and the knight was in serious trouble.

I dropped to one knee and hoisted the loaded crossbow to one shoulder, forcing myself to aim calmly despite impending panic. The scales bent and flexed at the dragon's joints, and my best hope was to get an arrow between them – the bow wasn't strong enough to pierce its armor. My knuckles were white around the trigger, and I didn't dare make a noise – though I needed to get to Laguna, I wanted to get the jump on the nasty beast.

The dragon crouched and snarled at Laguna, exposing a small patch of undefended skin near its front foreleg. Without stopping to consider, I loosed the poisoned arrow, and it flew true to bury itself between scales. The dragon screamed and swung its head around to snap at the arrow. While it was distracted, I made my move and ran.

"Laguna!" I screamed, closing the distance between us while the dragon worried at the bolt in its side. "I'm here! I have Potions!"

"What the hell are you doing, Raine?" he shouted, his face shocked and furious. "You could be killed! Get out of here!"

"Shut up!" I yelled back at Laguna. "Here!" I threw him a Hi-Potion, and I saw the restorative shimmer of healing magic form around him. I ran up to him and pressed three more into his hands before he could protest.

"Raine, for Hyne's sake…" Laguna hissed, pocketing the medicine. "Go home! This dragon's nothing to fool around with!"

"What, so you can get killed yourself, all alone?" I put my bow up to my shoulder. "Not a chance."

He would have given me a piece of his mind right then and there if the dragon hadn't charged us, roaring. I leapt to one side and Laguna to the other. He rolled and came up firing, forcing the dragon back. A thin trail of blood ran from the arrow wound, so I knew the poison was in the dragon's system, slowing it down. If it wasn't immune, that is. It was more than likely that an animal that big would need several doses of poison. I hoped that five would be enough.

It didn't look like it was slowing much. One paw darted out and buffeted Laguna, and I saw his head rock back with the blow. He staggered back, losing his grip on his machine gun. The dragon rumbled, its head swaying back and forth. It raised its front paw again for another shot, and I aimed my next arrow and fired.

By some miracle, the arrow sang straight in the uncertain moonlight and pierced the unprotected pads at the base of the dragon's foot. It bellowed, shaking its ruffed head back and forth, and Laguna recovered in time to pepper it with bullets before it could lift its paw to its mouth and pull out the arrow. The dragon's scream filled the night as it lost its balance and set the injured paw down harder on the arrow, driving the shaft all the way out the other side. It clamped its wicked jaws down on the bolt and pulled it out, but I could see that the dragon was limping heavily on that side of its body afterwards.

"Yes!" I hissed, pumping a fist in the air.

"Goddamn it, Raine, look out!" Laguna barreled into me and knocked me to the ground as a blast of dragon breath seared the air over us. Though it was moving more slowly than before, the ruby dragon was good and angry now, thanks to the pain in its foot. We scrambled away from another volley of flame, so close that I could feel the air burning around me as it missed me by inches.

Three more arrows left. I loaded another one into the crossbow, aiming along the arrow, but Laguna grabbed me by the wrist. "Laguna! Don't mess up my shot!" I protested, as he hauled me over the hill and back to the nearby stand of trees before I could sight on another one of the dragon's vulnerable spots. "What the…" I protested, trying to tug my hand out of his strong grip. "Let go of me!"

"What is the matter with you?" he yelled, shaking me. "You could be killed out here, and then what would happen to Ellone? I came out here alone for a reason!"

Angry, I broke his grip on my wrist and stood back. "I came out here to help you, Laguna!" I yelled right back at him. "It's not going to be good for Ellone if her Uncle Laguna comes back to Winhill in a Galbadian issue body bag!" I glared at him. "I'm not useless in a fight, and you need all the help you can get since Kiros isn't here. This is my home, and it's my decision if I want to protect it! So don't try to send me home, because _I'm not going_."

"Hyne above and below, Raine," Laguna swore. "I don't know what to do with you…"

"Then close your yap and get out there and fight," I snapped. "I can't kill that thing, but I can slow it down. Those arrows are poisoned, and so is the dragon, now."

Laguna sighed and pushed wet hair away from his forehead. I saw reluctant admiration shine through the storm clouds on his face. "You're a hell of a fighter, Raine."

"Don't forget it." The ground shook a short distance away, and I smelled sulfurous dragon breath. "I think our friend is looking for us. Get moving." Moonlight sparkled off glistening scales as the dragon circled the copse, swinging its head back and forth to pick up our scent.

Laguna nodded. "You head left and I'll go right. It can't see us well and it can't move so fast."

"Got it." I readied myself to bolt once Laguna gave the signal. Thunder grumbled in the distance, and the first stirrings of the winds from the next storm front made the branches around me shiver. Our time – and light – was going to run out fast. The moonlight was already breaking as clouds crossed the moon's face. Apprehension crawled down my spine.

The dragon grunted, prowling the edge of the trees. "Ready…" Laguna muttered, his attention fixed on our opponent. I tensed, and my fingers clutched convulsively around the grip of my crossbow. "Set…"

"Run!" I bolted from the shelter of the trees, and I heard the brush behind me rustle and crackle as Laguna took off in the other direction. The dragon turned ponderously, following our scent, as we rushed to get behind it. The poison was starting to work – the creature was more sluggish than it had been before, but no less dangerous for all that.

A draconic cough was all the warning I had before a burst of acid breath took me off my feet and sent me sprawling in the wet grass. I tasted dirt as I collapsed, on fire with the effects of its toxic exhalation, and my vision blurred. _The Potion. Need to get to the potion._ I groaned weakly, hardly able to move.

"Hey! Over here, you big cretin!" Laguna was shouting at the dragon. I could feel how close it was. A burst of machine gun fire rattled in the night, and the dragon barked in surprise and began to turn. "Yeah, that's right! Over here! C'mon, lizard-face!"

I felt rather than heard it rumble, and it left me sprawled on the grass for a more interesting target. Inch by agonizing inch, I reached for the Potion in my pocket, and gingerly pulled it out. Thunder crashed, and rain began to patter off my rainjacket and the aching skin on my face. Through sheer force of will, I pulled the stopper out of the neck, and the cool, healing liquid flowed down my throat like silk. The terrible lethargy abated, and I was able to stagger to my feet and take up the fallen crossbow again. Green light blazed up twice, and I knew that the dragon had attacked, and Laguna only had one Potion left.

There was no light left for me to use except for the sporadic flash of lightning streaking in the heavens above. The machine gun rang out again, and I ran towards the source of the noise, giving the dragon a wide berth. Laguna was barely visible in the darkness, but a blaze of light from above showed that he was almost on his knees, in bad shape.

"Laguna!" I screamed, running towards him. My second Potion was already in my hand, and I threw it to him before it could occur to me that perhaps I might need another. It didn't matter – nothing mattered except that he would survive this fight. The magic took effect immediately, and he hauled himself up. "Better?" I asked, and he nodded. "Good," I replied, and raised my bow for another shot. It was foolhardy to shoot into the dark, but all I had left without light was luck and Providence.

Lightning stuttered in the sky again, giving me a few seconds of brilliant light to aim for one of the dragon's eyes. I crossed my fingers and loosed the precious arrow, hoping that it was enough. It wasn't – as lightning flashed again, I saw the quarrel bounce off the dragon's bony eye ridges and fly off into the darkness to bury itself in grass. Damn it. Only two left. "Hyne, Laguna," I whispered under my breath, the first stirrings of fear overcoming the adrenaline. "Kill this thing. Hurry up, please, please…"

The dragon jerked back when it felt the sting of the arrow, and I sensed rather than saw its attention come to rest on me. It growled low in its throat, and a thin wisp of fire trickled from the corner of its mouth. I raised the bow and shot again, aiming for the source of the fire, hoping to pierce the soft skin around its mouth, but again the arrow pinged off tough scales and went wide. The red dragon roared in surprise and hunched back, and I didn't have time to dodge before I felt the searing burn of its breath.

I screamed, falling to the ground again in agony, and I heard Laguna yell and then the machine gun's report. Groaning, I dug my face into the wet grass – the icy rain felt wonderful on the blistering burn. Laguna's boots appeared in my field of vision, and I tried to protest when I heard the pop of a stopper from the neck of a bottle. My words were feeble. "No… Don't…"

"Shush." The burning ebbed away as the Potion took effect. "You need this more than I do."

"You shouldn't have…" I tried to scold him, but I was too dizzy to put much emphasis into it. "What if you get hurt again?"

"Gonna try not to. Sooner or later, it has to die, right?" Laguna settled his gun into his grip. "Come on. Let's take care of this thing."

"Right." My head was clearing, and I raised my bow to the ready. A deafening peal of thunder rolled down from the mountains, reminding me that the worst of the storm was still on the way. We had to be absolutely crazy, the two of us, to be out in this weather, I thought. Then again, we were crazy just to be taking on a ruby dragon. Terror and sudden giddiness combined, and I laughed at the sheer outrageousness of our situation. Here we were, out in the middle of a raging thunderstorm, fighting an impossible enemy… what a story. If we lived to tell it. I loaded another arrow into my bow.

Laguna fired again at the beast, and it retaliated with a burst of flame, mouth wide open as it expelled magical breath. He dropped to the ground and scrambled away, and it followed him, scorching the grass inches from his body. "Don't you even dare!" I screamed, and ran towards the lambent flame of its breath. This time I wouldn't miss. Dropping to one knee, I aimed my arrow at the roof of the dragon's mouth, which was illuminated by its fire, and pulled the trigger. The arrow impacted the soft tissues of its mouth with a sickening thunk, and my efforts were rewarded with an agonized draconic roar. Laguna picked himself up off the grass; he looked singed but not terrible.

"Nice shot!" he shouted at me, before unloading another clip into the dragon's body. Goaded beyond rage, it coiled and hissed at him, while he continued to fire. The massive muscles shifted, and its tail lashed the ground.

Quicker than I had ever thought possible for such an enormous animal, its front paw shot out, claws fully extended. The hail of bullets from Laguna's gun stopped abruptly as he was sent sprawling with the force of the red dragon's strike. He tried to rise as the dragon came after him, but it caught him and rolled him over on the ground with a second powerful blow.

The wind tore the scream from my mouth. I scrambled through the lashing rain to Laguna's side, and the dragon roared, triumphant. "Laguna!" I shrieked, dropping to my knees to lift his battered body from the ground. He stirred weakly, and his eyes were dazed and dim. Fear of losing him gripped my heart, and I raised my bow for one last, desperate shot at the towering dragon. "Last time pays for all," I growled, and fired my one remaining arrow at the dragon's eye as a brilliant bolt of lightning lit up the sky.

It wasn't enough. The dragon turned its head at the last moment, and the quarrel bounced off its scales. My empty bow fell from my hand. "No," I whispered, noting with fresh fear how shallowly Laguna was breathing. "This can't happen." I scrambled to grab Laguna's machine gun and continue the fight, but the pitch-dark night and the pouring rain made it impossible to locate.

A blast of hot air on the back of my neck was my only warning as the dragon struck again. It wasn't finished, and it had a new target. It slammed me across the chest, knocking the wind out of me and throwing me back over the ground, away from Laguna. I couldn't breathe and I couldn't move. I could only watch the dragon walk up to me and rear back for the finishing blow. Tears of pain and anguish ran from my eyes as I thought of Ellone, orphaned twice.

"_NO!_" The concussion blast from a grenade and the repeating chatter of the machine gun filled the night, and the red dragon retreated, forced back by a hail of bullets. I saw Laguna, propped up on one arm, snarling at the dragon and firing for all he was worth. He threw another grenade, and brilliance clouded my vision for a moment. Air rushed back into my lungs, and I coughed, dizzy. Through blurred vision, I could see Laguna falter, then slump again. The dragon was on him in seconds.

Time froze. I fell to my knees and dug my hands into the grass. _This cannot happen_. The dragon struck. _I cannot let this happen._ Laguna was rolled over onto his back by one powerful paw. Rage, brilliant and consuming, filled me. _I will not let this happen. It must not. It will not. For Ellone. For me. _I lifted my head, and bared my teeth at the dragon. _I will not let that beast kill the man I love._

Something unusual was happening to me. My hands were tingling, and I watched with wonder as shimmers of magic began to coalesce around the tips of my fingers. Brought on by the extreme stress of our fight, I felt an unknown power stir in the deepest recesses of my consciousness. Something in my brain clicked, and I felt power begin to radiate from my hands. The corridors of my mind were expanding, filling with energy as a wind fills the sails of a boat. My body was on fire, shimmering in the night. Sorceress powers. My sorceress powers, silent always before now, had awakened, and for this one desperate moment, they were mine to use.

I had never used magic before, but the motions of magical command came as naturally as if I had done them all my life. I stood up, weaving left and right, and slowly extended one luminous hand to the skies. Above, the storm responded, darkening and centralizing above me. Lightning flashed, streaking a circular path through the gathering strike. Maelstrom. Sorceress magic. _My_ magic. I narrowed my eyes and willed the power to unleash itself, _now._

A searing strike of energy blazed down from the clouds and engulfed the dragon. It screamed, terrible in its death agonies, wings lashing the air as it died. I reveled in its pain and in the icy heat of revenge. When the spell ended, all that was left of the red dragon was a smoking carcass – and the fallen shape of Laguna, sprawled unseeing on the ground.

The power in me was fading. I drifted over to him, my feet barely touching the ground. Sparks drifted from the tips of my hair, shimmering for a moment before winking out. I knelt beside Laguna and gathered him into my arms. I could barely feel him breathing. One tear slipped down my cheek and hung in the air, incandescent. I bent my head to him and laid my hand on his chest. "Don't go," I whispered. "We need you, Laguna. I need you." I kissed his forehead. "I love you."

I felt the remainder of power in me shift and flux, like warm water. It gathered in the core of me, deep in my heart, and filled me with joy and love so powerful that I nearly wept. It coiled in my breast for the barest instant, then poured from me to Laguna in a shining white torrent. In the stream of light I could see the dragon-inflicted wounds close and vanish, as if they had never been. He drew a deep breath, the first breath of a drowning man after a rescue, and opened his eyes.

"Are we safe? Did I kill it? What happened to me?"

I brushed sodden hair away from my forehead. "It's dead." Saying it gave me no elation, just tremendous relief. "You're all right – you're going to be fine."

"I don't understand," Laguna said slowly, gathering himself up and staring at his unblemished arms and legs. There was fresh blood on his shirt, but the skin underneath was whole and perfect. "I should be hurtin' right now. I should be damn near dead. In fact…" He shook his head, alarmed. "I'm not totally sure I wasn't." Laguna looked up at me, his eyes wide and searching. "What the hell happened?"

"I'm not sure that I know," I replied, shivering with shock. The magic that had healed Laguna had restored me as well, but my mind was reeling.

Laguna stood, a little unsteady on his feet, and walked to the smoldering carcass of the dragon. "It looks burned," he called back to me. "Was that the grenade?"

"Might have been," I said, following him. "Let's go home."

He looked at the scorch marks on the dragon's hide. "But no," Laguna said to himself, "This guy was burned all over. And there's no shrapnel. Look here –" he pointed to a spot near the dragon's leg. "That's from a grenade. The rest of it can't be. It's too much." Bewildered, Laguna called out into the rain, "Faeries! Did you do this? Are you here? Say somethin'!"

He walked around, staring into the raging storm, and lightning split the air. I flinched and let out an involuntary shriek. Both of us had to be insane to stay out in this weather. Laguna wasn't too tightly wrapped, that much was certain – but I was feeling more and more that I shared that quality with him.

"Please, Laguna," I implored, tugging on his wrist. "Let's go back to the pub. It's crazy to be out here."

"How did it happen, Raine?" he asked, reversing my grip and catching my hand. "It's not the faeries. I always have a buzzing in my ears when they're here, and I feel fine. 'Course, I'm not supposed to be feeling fine, either, because no one takes three hits from a ruby dragon and doesn't spend some time in the hospital. What did this? And…" Laguna backed away from me and put a wondering hand to his mouth. "You're glowing, Raine. Just a little, but you are."

The conduits of energy were shutting down, and my latent powers were going back to sleep. But he'd already seen the telltale sparkle of my magic, and I knew he wasn't going to let it go. Rain trickled down my face, and I brushed it away. "Magic did it."

Laguna arched an eyebrow. "You don't know any magic. If you could use it, that would make you…" His voice trailed off.

"A sorceress," I replied. "It's not what you think."

Suspicion clouded his face. I knew he was thinking of Adel, and Ellone. I cleared my throat, speaking with difficulty. "There is a rogue talent in my bloodline. Esthar found me, too, when I was Ellone's age. The gift is weak, and the vast majority of the time, it is silent. I don't know what brought it out tonight, and I've never had it answer before." I hugged myself, shivering. "I'm glad it did, or you'd be dead."

"It makes sense… that's why you don't like magic," Laguna said, speaking slowly. "Did they get your parents, too? Like Elle?"

"Yeah." I turned away from him. "Please don't make me talk about it. The previous owner of the pub raised me, just like I'm raising Elle."

"I won't." He touched my shoulder, and I blushed, remembering that not all that long ago, he'd kissed me. "Let's get out of here. I'm soaked."

Somehow we made it back to the pub, through the driving gale. Laguna looked down at himself, and at me, as if he didn't believe that we were both whole and safe. Nerveless fingers reached for the door, and we fell into the main room together, half in each other's arms. Hands shaking, I bolted the door behind me, then collapsed. Laguna was there instantly, picking me up from the floor. I flung my arms around his neck as if he were the only stable thing in the world. He drew back for a moment in surprise, then hugged me tight.

"Hey," Laguna whispered. "Are you all right?"

"We almost died," I said.

"But we didn't," he returned, drawing back and smiling at me. "Lucky your powers came to you when they did."

"Ellone," I said. "I better check on her. I left her all by herself."

"Yeah, you better," Laguna said. "I'll go and build a fire upstairs." He brushed rainwater away from my cheek, and the light touch left a trail of sensation in their wake. "You must be freezing."

I was. I wasn't. The shock of our fight was wearing off and leaving a deeper, unnamed desire in its wake. It wasn't sexual, precisely, though it was close – it was a need to reaffirm that I was alive, and so was Laguna. At the moment, I wanted nothing more than to be near him and to remember that the dragon hadn't killed us. But whether it was welcome to him… I didn't know. The memory of the kiss teased the edges of my mind.

Ellone was sleeping when I peeked in on her and let light spill into her room from the hallway. She murmured and pulled her moogle closer, her thumb halfway in her mouth. It was a baby habit, but after the night she'd had, she was entitled. I breathed a sigh of relief for her safety and carefully closed the door.

My clothes were cold and wet, and I wanted to change them. Laguna was surely even more miserable than I, but I didn't want to send him home. There was a basket of clean, dry wash in the back room, where it had been left after Laguna brought it in. He was supposed to fold his own things, but he hadn't gotten around to it.

I grabbed a dry towel and hurried back out through the upstairs great room, where Laguna was concentrating on stacking firewood and lighting kindling. By the time I got back upstairs, he had gotten the fire to catch and was sitting in front of it. He had already taken off as much of his wet clothing as he decently could. His blue jacket hung dripping on the back of a chair, and his battered army boots stood on a pile of newspaper, spatters of mud drying on them.

"Here," I said, handing him dry pants, underthings, and a button-down shirt. "You can't be comfortable. And here's a towel."

"Thanks." Laguna looked grateful. "Mind if I go change?"

"Not at all. I'm going to do the same myself."

"All right." He seemed to be on the cusp of saying something more but changed his mind.

I nodded and went back to my own room, where I peeled off my sodden, muddy clothes and kicked them into a corner. I pulled the first dry things I could find out of the closet, slipping them on with profound relief. My skin seemed oversensitive, and the slide of fabric over my body was almost sensuous. I felt blood rush to my cheeks – it wouldn't do to show these feelings in front of Laguna.

The fire was roaring merrily when I entered the great room again, and I settled down in front of it and stretched my fingers out to the warmth. My hair was drying in dark tangles, and I pulled a comb through the snarled strands, letting it dry before the flames.

"Hey." I looked up, and there was Laguna, looking much better. His shirt was rolled up at the cuffs and I could see the glint of his dogtags at his neck. A sudden, inappropriate image of undoing each button on his shirt one by one came into my head, and I hoped that Laguna would attribute the flush on my face to the heat of the fire. He sat down cross-legged next to me, and for a while, neither of us spoke.

The tension was agonizing. I stared into the flames and tried to keep from looking over at Laguna. I shut my eyes tight and forced my mind away from its current path. I rationalized with myself – this had to be the natural reaction to a brush with death, to want to cling to life in a very visceral way. But it was more than that and I knew it. I kept turning over the feel of his mouth on mine in my mind. It had been such a fleeting touch, but I wanted to repeat it.

"Raine." Laguna's voice pulled me from my thoughts. "I heard you, out there. I heard what you said to me."

"I…" Not knowing what to say, I flushed and turned away. "I'm sorry. You weren't supposed to. I didn't mean…"

"No. Don't." I felt Laguna's warm hand close over mine. "Please don't say you didn't mean it… unless…"

I looked over at him, and the uncertainty on his face struck me to the quick. "I… I don't know, I thought you were going to die." My free hand curled into a fist, my fingernails biting into my palm. "Laguna… why did you kiss me? I don't understand. Don't you want to go? Don't you want to leave Winhill?"

Laguna sighed. "Raine…you have to have some notion why I haven't left. Why I haven't left Winhill." He reached out and lifted my chin so I was eye-to-eye with him. "Why I haven't left you."

His level green gaze left me breathless. I thought hard about his aspirations, and about Julia, and the old familiar frustration and anger rose to the surface. "No, I don't know. I don't know why you haven't left this backwater town for your big life and your lost lady-love." I was unable to keep the bitterness out of my voice.

Laguna sighed and looked into the fire, his fingers sliding away. The dancing flames played over the planes of his face, and his eyes were shadowed. Angry with myself, I jerked my fingers through my tangled hair, spreading it out before the heat. Why did I find it so necessary to pick bones? Tears crystallized at the corners of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.

It was a long time before he spoke again. "Julia's gone. It's like I said to Kiros – at least she's happy, right? She's in the past. Besides that… she doesn't mean anything to me anymore. There's just… there's just you, Raine. There's no room for her. Just for you." Laguna rubbed the back of his head. "Ahhh… I don't know how to say these things…"

My nerves were tight and butterflies danced in my stomach. "What things?"

Laguna was hugging his leg, which seemed to be twitching. "I guess what I'm telling you," he said, "is that I haven't left Winhill because… because I love you." He blushed and thumped on his leg with his fist. "I… can't not tell you any more. 'Specially because Kiros has been after me to either go back to Timber or figure out why I'm here." He looked up at me, and flame danced in his green eyes. "And I did."

"I never thought…" I murmured, feeling blood warm my cheeks. "I never thought you would, especially after Julia. I fought it for a long time, since I thought you were going away." I took a deep breath and stared at the floor. "But… I meant every word I said to you."

Laguna let out a long sigh. "It feels good," he admitted, "to know I'm not the only one." My heart stilled in my chest. I sat there, frozen, as he slid his hand along my face to tilt my head up to his. His mouth settled on mine, a light, brief kiss. I closed my eyes as the spark of our contact ran through me like a knife. I didn't move, didn't pull back, and our breath mingled for a moment. Somewhere, thunder rumbled, and he leaned forward again to kiss me again.

I didn't know what to think, only what to feel. My entire being was focused on the questioning touch of Laguna's kiss. The fate of what could be and what was hinged on the gentle brush of his lips against mine; in that instant, it fell upon me to decide whether to accept him, his love, and my own feelings, or whether to turn him away and remain safe. I made my decision and opened my mouth enough to deepen the kiss.

The sheer unreality of the situation, sitting before a flickering fire with a man I had never expected to fall in love with, hit me hard as the kiss grew more passionate. It didn't have the hazy feeling of the dreams; rather, I was all too aware of the taste of his skin – rainwater, wind, and smoke from the fire. Laguna slid closer to me, a soft sound of fabric over the floor. His proximity was almost painful, and my heart thudded against my ribs.

The feel of his hand on my jawline, the faint smell of steel and gunpowder, the taste of his mouth as I surrendered a little more and our tongues touched for the first time – I was acutely aware that they were all from him; that it was Laguna across from me on the hearth, Laguna whose heart beat against my fingertips when I laid a hand on his chest. His mouth was sweet, and warmth gathered in my groin; my tongue brushed against his, a new and arousing sensation. Laguna's fingers slid along my face to tangle in my hair, and I tilted my head to intensify an already dangerous kiss, hardly believing that I dared. Laguna made a soft noise deep in his throat, and one arm crept around my waist.

Up until then, the kiss we were sharing was shy exploration – tentative and careful. Then, Laguna pulled me closer to him, and what had been cautious began to turn aggressive. I responded in kind, tasting him deeply and nipping lightly at the curve of his lips – something I had wanted to do since that terrible night at the bar. I felt rather than heard him groan, and his mouth left mine and started to travel the line of my neck. I shivered as my blood began to fire in earnest, and I arched my head back, sighing.

"Hyne, Raine… you're so beautiful…" he whispered against my neck, and I wound my hands in the fabric of his shirt, trying to quell the urge to unfasten each button and run my hands over the strong muscles of his back. It was like something out of my dreams, and I couldn't believe it was happening, or that I was letting it happen. Part of it, I knew, was reaction to our fight – or had the fight been a catalyst, pushing us to say what needed to be said out of fear of death? I didn't know. All I knew was that Laguna was kissing me again, hungrily, and his hand was sliding over my shirt to close on my breast. I moaned softly as his fingertips brushed the nipple, still covered by two layers of fabric.

"No. Oh, no," he said, suddenly, pulling himself away with effort. "I shouldn't… this shouldn't… I'm sorry, Raine, that wasn't right…" Laguna drew back, and the shock of our parting was like cold water. I stared at him, confused, as he stood up and backed away, the color high in his cheeks.

"Laguna… what's the matter?" I murmured, rising to follow him.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to do that," Laguna said, his voice low and rough. "How long I've wanted to…" He flushed and made as if to turn away. I stood next to him and took one tightly fisted hand in my own, tracing the long bones with my fingers. Laguna watched me, chest rising and falling with quick breaths.

"Then why stop?" I asked, moving to kiss him again. Laguna turned his head away, gathering his composure.

"Because I want you. I want this… too much." His stance was controlled, and I could see the effort it cost him to speak calmly. "I love you, Raine, and I don't wanna make a mistake by doing something I shouldn't." The longing in Laguna's eyes was plain. "I better go home before… something else happens."

He went to pick up his jacket from the chair, and I caught his wrist before he could get too far. "Don't go," I said. "I want you to stay. Mostly, I want you to stay here with me." Before Laguna could stop me, I cupped his face in my hands and pulled his mouth down to mine, and he shuddered all over and dropped his jacket on the floor.

"Hyne, Raine,' Laguna gasped, in between teasing kisses. "I know how to behave myself, but gods… if you keep kissing me like this, I'm not going to want to stop…"

Throwing myself over the precipice into the unknown, I put my arms around him and looked up into those incredible green eyes. "Maybe I don't want you to stop," I whispered, before our lips met. He shivered, and our kiss became passionate. There was nothing gentle about the touch of his lips and mouth. It was possession, and it was heat. I responded with equal fervor, taking whatever he had to give and returning in kind. Laguna crushed me against him, and I could feel the swell of him pushing against my pelvic bone.

I moaned low in my throat through the kiss to feel his arousal, and I pressed close to move against him, wanting him to respond. Laguna broke the kiss, breathing hard. His hands traveled down over my buttocks and he pulled me up to him, leaving no doubt of his excitement. I dug my fingers into his back and flexed them over shifting muscles. Even through two layers of clothing, I could feel Laguna's heart pounding, and his breath came fast and rapid on the back of my neck.

Laguna groaned into the fabric of my shirt, moving against me. His arms around my waist loosened, and I ran my hands up into his long black hair. Laguna's eyes were wide and dark; his mouth was slightly open. I captured his lower lip playfully with my own, gently sucking on it for a moment. He closed his eyes, giving over to the sensation, and I traced the line of sooty lashes that lay against his cheek after relinquishing his mouth.

"I… I can't believe…" he whispered. "I can't believe it's me. I can't believe it's you."

"I can't believe it took me so long to see you as you are," I murmured, tracing the lines of his face with my fingertips.

Laguna laughed, softly. "What am I besides a pain in the ass with big dreams?"

"Everything I could ever have wanted," I said. "Under that unpolished air of yours, you have the kindest heart of anyone I've known. You protect this village, even though they'd just as soon toss you out as look at you. You take care of Ellone." I drew a deep breath. "And when I let you… you take care of me."

"I love you, Raine," he whispered. "In the end… you turned out to be my dream. Not fame, not fortune… and not Julia."

"And you, mine," I said, blushing. "I never thought… oh, I don't know." I smiled up at him. "At least now I can tell you how I feel."

"Where do we go from here?" Laguna asked, half to himself and half to me.

Impishly, I replied, "Down the hall." He drew back from me, unbelieving; then a wicked smile spread across his face. I put my arms around Laguna's neck and murmured into his ear, "I do hope you know the way after all this time." He swung me up into his arms, lifting me off the ground as if I weighed nothing. Laguna gave me one of his mischievous little-boy grins, kissed me again, and carried me down the hall to my room, where the bed would be big enough for both of us.


	11. Chapter 13

_(A/N: No, the chapters aren't misnumbered. Chapter 12 of this story does not comply with Fanfiction-dot-net's policies and will not be posted here. However, if you're of appropriate age for M+ fic, it is available at my website, which is linked in my profile. Chapter 7 is also available there, because it doesn't comply either. Thanks to everyone who has been keeping up with the repost – I am working more or less diligently on a new chapter! If you're enjoying the story, please consider leaving me a review. I love getting them (who doesn't?))_

**Chapter 13**

I awoke to the unfamiliar sensation of a warm body curled around mine, and the unfamiliar weight of an arm draped around my waist. Confusion swirled in my head as my sleep-hazed brain tried to remember the previous night's events. Then the person behind me muttered to himself and started to snore, and it all came rushing back in one blush-inducing sweep.

_I can't believe I slept with Laguna last night_, I thought, now fully awake and wide-eyed with knowledge and remembered pleasure. I lay as still as I could next to him, not wanting to ruin the moment, but also not sure what was going to happen when he woke up. It had happened so fast – yesterday morning I was sure that Laguna was going to leave and this was never going to happen, and yet here I was, held tight in the arms of the soldier who had been dumped on my doorstep nearly a year ago.

Sunlight filtered in through the window and dust motes danced in the sunbeam falling across the foot of the bed. Our garments were scattered on the scuffed wood floor, and the oil lamp was empty – further proof, as if I needed any more proof than the naked man sleeping next to me – that last night had been anything but a dream. Furthermore, dreams didn't make noises like sawing logs in my ear.

"What a romantic way to start the morning," I muttered to myself, trying to twist my head away from the noise. Laguna stirred in his sleep and nuzzled the back of my neck. It got harder and harder to not wriggle away as Laguna settled down again and started to snore even more loudly. Finally, I couldn't take it any more, and I elbowed my lover in the ribs.

"Hngrhhh..." Laguna grumbled, breaking off mid-snore. To my great disgust, he rolled over on his other side and started to snore again. I sat up in bed and realized that I was also naked – good thing that Elle hadn't decided to pay one of her early-morning visits. There was nothing about my situation that could be explained easily to a four-year-old. I yanked the sheet up around my torso.

"I guess this means that you'll be staying with us more often," I said to the dozing Laguna. "Elle should be pleased with that."

"Hnnnhhh... Wha?" Laguna curled in on himself and stretched his legs. "Hunh?" Sleepy green eyes opened, and he yawned hugely. I watched him wake up, the sheet tucked demurely above my breasts. He rolled over in bed and sat up to look at me, and a huge grin spread across his face.

"You look like the cat who caught the chicobo," I muttered.

"'Scuse me for being happy about waking up next to the most gorgeous woman in the world," Laguna replied, not at all repentant. "Guess it wasn't a dream, huh?" He reached up and traced the line of my jaw with his fingertips, smiling at me with wondering eyes.

"No dream." I clutched the sheet closer to my chest, suddenly shy. Laguna tugged playfully on my hair, and it was impossible to resist his charm.

"You don't regret anything, do you? Because I don't," he said. "I love you, even the next morning. And the one after that one, and then the next, and then..."

"Okay, okay, I get it," I laughed.

"So?" Laguna propped his elbow on one sheet-covered knee and rested his chin on his hand. "What do you say?"

"What do you want me to say?" I said, trying to resist a giggle.

"Say you love me!" Laguna made a face at me. "Say you can't live without me, say that I'm the best thing that ever came into your life, say we're so awesome together..."

I pretended to think. "I don't know about that..."

"You better!" Laguna mock-wrestled me back down to the bed, grabbing me around the middle, and this time my laughter spilled out. "Or else..."

"Or else what?" I said, my voice muffled by the sheets.

"Or else you get the cuchie-cuchie treatment!" His fingers fluttered along my side, and I squirmed.

"Give me a break," I laughed, trying to get away from the imminent tickle. "You can lift heavy objects and open jars, so you have a use around the house..." I stifled a shriek in the pillow as Laguna made good on his promise, and both of us nearly fell out of bed in the ensuing struggle.

"Stop, stop!" I cried, breathless with laughter. I tried to keep my voice down so I didn't wake Ellone up - how we hadn't awakened her last night would be an eternal mystery. "Enough!"

"SO?" Laguna said in my ear, pleased with himself.

"I love you, Laguna Loire. And I don't want to live without you. And you are the best thing that's happened to me, even though I didn't know it for a long time. And..." I paused for dramatic effect. "Your breath could stop a train."

The last comment earned me a poke in the ribs. "You meanie," Laguna said, but his voice was happy. "I love you too, Raine Leonhart. And this is the best morning of my entire life so far, and I wish every morning could be like this. And we _are_ awesome together, at least I think so. Last night sure was..." Laguna's voice dropped to a suggestive growl, and suddenly I was very aware of his warm body wrapped around mine.

"Hyne, Laguna, not now..." I hissed, even as I felt him stir against my thigh and my body started to show a decided interest. "You do realize there's an inquisitive four-year-old down the hall who is going to wake up any minute."

Laguna kissed the back of my neck, not paying much attention. "We can be quiet."

It was getting harder to concentrate. "You are such a pest," I said, trying to extricate myself from his embrace before things could go too far. Laguna hugged me tighter and started to nibble my ear. I shivered with delight and decided that it wasn't such a bad idea after all.

I had started to twist around in Laguna's arms to return the favor when the door down the hallway opened with an unmistakable creak of old hinges. I froze, and so did Laguna. "Oh, shit," he whispered. "She's up. Is the door locked?"

"I don't think so," I said, eyes wide. "Let me out." I darted to the door, sliding the latch shut before the doorknob started to rattle. Laguna hastily grabbed at his clothing, red in the face.

"Raine?" A suspicious little voice came through the door. "Are you in there?"

"Yes, Elle, everything's okay." I tried to sound as normal as possible.

"How come your door won't open?" she said, and the doorknob shook back and forth. "What are you doing in there?"

Laguna shook with repressed mirth. "You want to talk about feeling like a teenager... you ever get caught before, Raine?"

"I'm glad you think this is so funny," I hissed at him.

"What's going on?" Ellone said, and I could almost see her standing there with her hands on her hips in imitation of me. "Lemme in!"

"In a little while, Elle," I said, stalling. "I'm going to take a shower. Why don't you go play until I'm done, and then we'll have breakfast?"

"Well, okay," Ellone replied, doubtful. Her footsteps retreated down the hallway and I relaxed.

"Go on!" I said to Laguna. "Hurry and get dressed."

"Just a minute," Laguna said, walking toward the bathroom. He shut the door behind him and the water started to run. I grabbed a bathrobe out of my closet, threw it over my shoulders, and tightened the sash. I could hear him brushing his teeth, and I pounded on the door in outrage.

"Laguna Loire, are you using my toothbrush?" I growled through the door.

"After last night, does it matter? And you were the one who complained..."

"I swear to Hyne, I'm gonna kick your ass..." I barged into the bathroom, and Laguna turned in surprise, mouth full of toothpaste.

"Yo! PRIVACY!" he garbled through the foam.

"After last night, does it matter?" I returned, mocking him. "Hurry up!" Laguna rinsed and spat, clearly taking his time. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him.

Laguna dried his face on a towel and winked at me. "You're beautiful when you're mad."

"That's _my_ towel. And you're incorrigible," I informed him, steering him out of my bathroom and towards his pile of clothing with a well-placed hand on the small of his back.

"Incorri-what?" Laguna said. He gathered up his things, reluctantly. "What's that mean?"

"Go look it up in the dictionary. You're the writer, not me." Laguna stuck his tongue out at me and pulled on his shorts. He seemed to be taking forever.

Little feet scampered out in the hall and came to rest in front of the door. "Oh no," I groaned, quietly. "She's back."

"Raine?" the little voice said again. "Uncle Laguna left his jacket and shoes here. Was he here last night? Can I bring them over to him?"

"How about you put them in his old room, Elle?" I said, helping Laguna with his shirt. "You know you're not allowed to go outside alone."

Silence outside as she thought this over. "How did Uncle Laguna get home last night without getting his feet wet?"

"Damn, I need those boots before I can go home," he whispered. "It's one big mud puddle out there."

"Working on it..." I muttered back. Laguna yanked on his pants and swept his shirt up off the floor. He pulled it on and fumbled with the buttons.

"Let me IN!" Ellone's voice was a scream of four-year-old frustration. She rattled the door and started to cry. "Mean!"

I shrugged helplessly. "She's going to find out sooner or later," I said to Laguna, who was growing more and more agitated as Ellone bawled outside. He hated it when she cried. "And she'll be happy about it. You know how Elle's been going on about the two of us getting together."

"Right." Laguna unlatched the door and opened it to reveal a sobbing Ellone, and her eyes widened in surprise when she caught sight of him. "Stop crying, Elle, don't be sad!" he said, and he picked her up. The tears magically stopped – _imagine that _– and she threw her arms around him.

"Uncle Laguna!" Elle cheered, bouncing in Laguna's arms. "What are YOU doing here? Were you scared of the dragon too?"

"No more dragon. We got rid of the dragon," Laguna said, and he mussed Elle's hair. "It's dead. D-E-A-D."

Elle wriggled into Laguna's shoulder, content. "How come your stuff is here? Did you sleep over?" The tips of Laguna's ears turned pink in embarrassment.

"Something like that," he hedged, carrying her out of my room. "Tell you what. Let's us go downstairs and make breakfast, okay?" Laguna let Ellone down to the floor but kept hold of her hand. "Would that be all right, Raine?"

"Sure. Just don't set the house on fire," I said. Ellone wasn't old enough to understand what was going on. Or maybe she did and wasn't interested enough to press the point. You never could tell.

Laguna beamed at me, and I couldn't help but return his smile. "We'll see you in a while. Have a good shower."

Ellone narrowed her eyes and looked from me to Laguna and back again. "You never smile so nice at Uncle Laguna," she said with renewed suspicion. "Are you getting marr..."

"Hey! What about breakfast?" Laguna interrupted. "Are you gonna help me or what? I can't find anything in the kitchen unless you show me."

"You never cook, neither." Elle replied, baffled. "What's going on?"

"You'll know when you're older," Laguna said, taking Ellone's hand in his. "Come on, we got a job to do." He grinned back at me over his shoulder and brought Ellone downstairs. They chattered all the way, Laguna parrying Elle's questions.

I smiled and shut the door, shedding my robe. It was such a damnable cliché to be glowing, but it was true, and it felt like nothing in the world could ever go wrong. Breakfast... how cute, Laguna making breakfast for me.

My hair was full of suds by the time it dawned on me through the haze of good feeling that Laguna couldn't cook worth a damn. I started to worry.

Then something that smelled electrical came drifting up through the floorboards and my panic level increased.

I dried myself off as fast as I could and ran, my bathrobe askew from hasty dressing. The nattering that came from the kitchen was cheerfully normal, and I almost relaxed until Ellone said, "Uncle Laguna, is there supposed to be fire on the pan like that?"

I skidded around the corner, bathwater still trickling down my legs, and the sight that greeted my eyes was nothing short of a disaster. There were kitchen implements everywhere and eggshells on the floor. On the stove was the source of the odd smell – my electric skillet, set right on top of a burner with scorching eggs inside, and flames beginning to lick from beneath it. Laguna and Ellone were watching the pan begin to burn with identical, quizzical expressions.

"LAGUNA!" I shrieked, seizing the handle of the skillet and pulling it off the burner. "Get the fire extinguisher! Now!"

"Oh! Damn!" Laguna jerked out of his stupor, and Ellone clapped her hands over her mouth. He rummaged frantically around the kitchen while I held the burning pan away from me. "Raine! Where is it?" he yelped.

"Next to the refrigerator! Hurry up!" The handle was getting warm.

"Got it!" Laguna pulled the pin on the extinguisher's nozzle.

I warded my face with my free hand. "Not in here, not in here! Open the back door! Hurry!"

Laguna rushed out in front of me and I staggered out onto the back porch. I dropped the flaming skillet as fast as I could – thankfully, the wood out back was sodden from last night's downpour – and Laguna sprayed it with white foam. Burned eggs splattered all over, thrown out of the pan by the force of the stream. We were both covered in fire-quenching fluff by the time he was finished, and all that remained was a mess of brown-and-yellow egg goop and the sad-looking, blackened pan.

"Well, um." Laguna brushed foam away from his forehead. "That didn't work out so good at all." He shook his head at his valiant cooking effort. "No, not at all. I'm really sorry about your pan..."

I stared at the ruin of my good pan and then at Laguna, who was a sorry sight. He had tried so hard, with his usual "do first and think later" attitude, and now look at the mess. But still... it was the heart that mattered. I had never really understood what Laguna was talking about until right then, and I closed my eyes in the sudden bliss of realizing how much I loved him.

Laguna, mistaking my silence for anger, edged his way back toward the kitchen. "I'm sorry, Raine," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "I didn't mean..."

I bent down and poked the egg mess with one finger, and my sudden burst of laughter stopped Laguna in his tracks. When I stood back up, I was smiling, and relief washed over his face. "Only you, Laguna," I said, "could make this big a mess out of scrambled eggs. You are the cutest thing on the Planet."

Laguna broke into a grin and lunged over to pick me up and swing me around into the air. I shrieked through my laughter and grabbed at his shoulders for balance. Laguna's mouth closed over mine on my way back to earth, and the warmth of his lips smothered my startled cry.

"_Laguna_," I protested, once he let me go, "Elle is in the kitchen! What if she sees us?"

Laguna rolled his eyes and gave me a withering look. "She's gonna find out one way or another, like you said, and now that I've got you, I ain't gonna let you go. How about that?"

"Behave," I told him. Laguna arched a sly eyebrow and slipped an arm around my waist.

"Maybe for now."

Ellone was waiting for us when we came back inside, peeking around the corner from the main room of the tavern into the kitchen. "You're all messy!" she said, pointing a finger. "Ewww! What's that white stuff?"

I shook some of the foam off my bathrobe and scraped at half-cooked egg that was drying on my sleeve. "Uncle Laguna was a little enthusiastic with the fire extinguisher."

"You need _another_ shower," Elle informed me. "And so do _you,_ Uncle Laguna."

"Save water, shower with a friend," Laguna said, under his breath so that I could hear him and Ellone couldn't. I shot him a dirty look. "What do you think?" he asked me, attempting to seem innocent. "Do we need to shower or not?"

"I think you need to march yourself on home and do that." I smiled, all sweetness and light. "And don't forget to take your wash while you're about it."

"Don't you think we should all stay here?" Laguna's eyes were sparkling with amusement at the game we were playing.

"Oh, I don't know. Perhaps it would be fun to head on over to the Flower Restaurant down the way instead of worrying about this mess. Which, by the way, you and Elle can help me clean up later."

"_Something _is going on," Elle announced, watching us closely through narrowed eyes. "You're all weird today."

"Go on now, hurry up and we'll all go together," I said, noting Laguna's frustration with glee. "You too, Elle. I don't believe you've washed your face yet this morning."

"Don't like washing face," she grumbled.

"We'll wash faces together. Let's go." I hustled her out of the kitchen toward the stairs, catching Laguna's glance. As we walked by, I trailed my fingers against his where Ellone couldn't see. His presence was suddenly very close behind me, and his lips brushed against my neck. Little tingles of excitement prickled down my fingers at the light touch.

"I'll come over later, then," Laguna said, his voice low. I closed my eyes and wondered how I was ever going to get through the day without dragging him off to bed with me. Then I decided that it was more likely that I was going to kill him at the first opportunity for being so annoying.

Laguna ambled off for the front door. "Hope he has his boots," I said to myself, smirking while hurrying Ellone up the stairs and into her bathroom. And, true to form, Laguna came stomping back a few minutes later. I heard him pick up his boots from the newspaper in the great room, and I poked my head out into the hallway. Laguna's feet were covered in mud nearly to his ankles.

"Forget something?" I teased. "Distracted, are we?"

"I'll give you _distracted_," Laguna shot back, crossing the distance between us and pulling my mouth up to his before I could react. We were both shaking by the end of the kiss, and I turned away with effort. Laguna gave me a triumphant smile, and I glowered.

"Take those muddy feet of yours home," I said, trying to cover the moment. His eyes never leaving mine, Laguna sat on the floor to pull on his boots, doing his best to keep me as uncomfortable as possible. I kept his gaze, biting back a tremendous laugh as I noticed what he was doing in the process – namely, failing to notice that he was putting his shoes on over his wet socks. Laguna was paying no attention at all, and in went one muddy foot.

"What the-" Laguna pulled his foot out of his boot, a look of great dismay on his face. I dissolved into laughter. "That's not funny," he grumped, stripping the dirty sock off. "You could have warned me, you know."

"How could I if I was so... distracted?"

"Hmph." Laguna balled up his socks and grabbed his boot again, angling his bare foot to slide it on.

I held out a warning hand. "Laguna, you might want to wipe out the inside before..."

"Oh, yuck," he groaned, and pulled his foot out again. Traces of wet dirt clung to his toes.

"...you put your boot on," I finished, stifling more laughter. "Are you sure you know the way back to your house?"

"If I say I forgot, does that mean I get to stay here?" Laguna mopped the inside of his boot out with the clean portion of his sock.

I leaned back against the wall of the hallway. "Nope."

"So that means you'd have to show me the way to go home, right?" Laguna chuckled at his own whimsy and started to sing. "I'm tired and I wanna go to bed... 'cause I had a little drink about an hour ago, and it's gone right to my head..."

"I know what's in your head, Mr. Laguna, and if you don't want a bucket of cold water dumped over your head in about thirty seconds, you had best be on your way."

"All right, I get it, I get it," Laguna complained. "Sheesh. You ruin all my fun."

My face warmed with remorse. Laguna had just been trying to play with me, as inappropriate as it might have seemed. I walked over to him, the wood floor rough under my feet, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. His face was prickly with yesterday's growth of beard. "I'm sorry," I said, softly, and Laguna smiled up at me. "But you know that now's not a good time for that sort of thing. Think of Elle... really."

"Yeah, I know." Laguna stood up and picked his jacket up off the floor, where it lay from the previous night. "Doesn't make it much easier, though, when all I wanna do is be with you." His voice was low and earnest. "You know I still love you, right?"

An involuntary smile spread across my face, and I thought I would melt. "I know. I love you too. See you in a while?"

"Okay." With a last brush of his hand over my face, Laguna turned for the stairs and left. I stood at the top of the stairs and stared after where he'd been, feeling like I was shining inside. Grinning like a fool, I hugged myself and went back into Ellone's bathroom.


	12. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"Kiros is coming back today."

"Hmmm?" I put down the glasses I'd been shoving back under the bar and pulled myself up on the brass rail. Laguna was sitting at one of the tables, uncharacteristically picking at his lunch instead of wolfing it down. "Did you say that Kiros is coming back? He did say that he'd be gone a week, so that _would_ make it today, right?"

"Right." Laguna stared at his sandwich and pushed it around with one finger.

"What's the matter with you? Something must be wrong if you won't eat," I said.

"Yeah, well... I guess I'm kinda worried about what I'm gonna tell him when he gets back. You know, about us."

"I see." I slid out from behind the bar and walked up behind Laguna's chair, bending to slip an arm around his chest and press my cheek against his. I felt him smile, and he covered my arm with his, lightly tracing the back of my hand. "I don't think you have anything to worry about. Truth to tell, I think your friend figured it out before either of us did."

"You think so?" Laguna was skeptical.

"Remember how he tried to get you to stop talking about Julia, doofus?" I teased. "Why else would he care?"

"I guess," Laguna mused. "And he did want me to stay and listen to what you were saying..."

"What I was saying when?"

"Ummm..."

"Cough it up," I warned, poking him in the shoulder.

"Well, you know when you were talking to Ellone the day Kiros came?" Laguna said, reluctantly.

"Ye-es..." I wasn't sure I liked where this was going.

"And you said all that stuff about me snoring and not knowing about my aspirations and things?"

Outraged, I smacked Laguna on the shoulder. "You sneak, you were eavesdropping! You weren't supposed to hear any of that!"

Laguna held up his hands in defense. "Hey! I wanted to leave, didn't want to hear your girl talk and all that, but Kiros said we should listen! Hey – ow!" he yelped, as I gave him a hard pinch.

"You didn't have to listen to him," I told him, but I flushed to remember how I had overheard his conversation with Kiros not too long afterwards. That had been an accident, anyway. It didn't count.

"Yeah, well, then you told Elle that you felt the same as her and then I knew that you didn't hate me after all and maybe we felt the same way, so it's okay." Laguna turned around and grinned at me. "And then I kissed you before I went off to fight the dragon and you didn't slap me across the face, so it was a start. But I would never have done it if I hadn't heard you talking to Elle!"

"Oh fine, then," I huffed, putting my hands on my hips. "Kiros did you a favor, I guess. But I'm still mad at you!"

"No, you're not," Laguna returned, standing up and slipping his arms through my elbows to give me a hug. "I know your mad Raine face, and that isn't it. You want me to think you're mad because it's fun for you." I growled at him, but my voice was muffled against his jacket.

"No, I really am mad!" I grumbled, but there was no conviction in it.

"Heh, if you want to be all prickles and elbows today, you can go ahead and grump all you want," Laguna said. "But I like you better when you're not." He rested his head on my hair, and against my will, I relaxed against him.

"One of these days, Laguna..." I said, snuggling into his shoulder.

"Yeah, tell me a story," he replied, but he didn't let go.

How long we stood there I didn't know, but the sound of a door opening shocked us from our private reverie. Laguna's teeth clacked together hard as I inadvertently brought my head up in surprise to knock against his jaw, and he yowled in pain. We separated ourselves from one another in a flurry, and Laguna turned to face the intruder.

"K-K-Kiros!" Laguna stuttered, his hand dropping from its place around my waist. His face was a vivid shade of red, and I was sure that I was a similar color. "You're back!"

"Yup." Kiros leaned against the open door, amused. "I see things have changed."

"Ah, well... ha ha ha!" Laguna blushed an even deeper scarlet, and his leg developed a case of the jitters that would have been funny under other circumstances. "Uhhh... well, it was like this... there was the dragon, and..."

Kiros waved his hands. "Cut it out, Laguna, you don't have to justify yourself. I mean, anyone with half a brain around here could figure things out."

"R-really?"

"Really. Though it took you damn long enough." A look of quiet regret flashed over Kiros's face almost too quickly to be seen. "So what else did I miss in my week away?"

"Well, uh..." Laguna was trying to get his leg to unbend. "The ruby dragon was no walk in the park, I'll tell you that much."

"You fought that thing? I'm impressed." Kiros shut the door behind him and the two friends walked up to the bar. Laguna began to recount the story of the dragon, and I decided to make myself scarce. A beer for each, and then I was able to escape. They were chattering away like nothing had happened.

"Kiros," I murmured to myself. "Kiros, Kiros, Kiros..." A whole new wrinkle to our budding relationship. What was he going to mean for the two of us? It wasn't the most comfortable of positions to be the third wheel between Laguna and myself. But then, he'd been following Laguna around for far longer than I'd known either of them, and there were aspects of their relationship I'd never be a part of. I hoped that it wouldn't be too uncomfortable – and I hoped that Laguna wouldn't change his mind, now that Kiros was back.

The first few days were almost comical. Laguna, wanted to stay with me at night, so he would concoct some excuse to stay behind while Kiros went back to the house next door. Kiros was no idiot, so he would grin knowingly while I tried to find a quiet way to sink into the floor. He never twitted me about it – he was too polite for that – but I did hear some spirited razzing from outside my window one morning as Laguna went back home in what Kiros termed the "Walk of Shame."

Things settled back to normal. Laguna and Kiros went back out on patrol. I was outside digging in the garden one day when I heard them trotting back, hungry and tired.

"I have to go there for a day or two! Come on, Kiros!" Laguna pleaded loudly, hands outstretched. I peered out from behind the hedge.

"Your timing could have been better," Kiros sighed, returning a katal to its belt sheath. "I just got back, for Hyne's sake! You think train tickets grow on trees?"

"It's important," Laguna said. "I need to go to Timber. You know... because..." he growled, giving Kiros a significant glare.

Timber? An unpleasant jolt of surprise rocketed through me, and I drove my fingers into the dirt. Laguna wanted to go to Timber after all? After all this? After everything he'd said to me, late at night? If he had been stringing me along... Furious, I popped up from my hiding place, angry and hurt. "Because why? You don't want to leave for months on end, and you want to go _now? _What kind of game are you playing with me?"

"Raine!" Laguna jumped about a foot in the air. "What are you doing there?"

"Uh oh. Lovers' quarrel," Kiros shook his head. "See you later. I'm not getting into this." He strode purposefully off towards Laguna's house, whistling.

I grabbed Laguna by the wrist and dragged him off around the side of the house, not wanting to make a big scene in the middle of the town square. "What the hell, Laguna?" I hissed, folding my arms over my chest. Tears threatened and I pinched my arm hard to stave them off. "You want to go off and leave me now?"

"What? No!" Laguna's eyes went wide in surprise. "It's a day or two; I don't see why it has to be a big deal, right? What's the problem?"

"The problem is that I've heard this story before. Boy meets girl, boy sleeps with girl, boy leaves. You're going to go off now that you've made your conquest?"

"That is _not fair_," Laguna shot back. "I can't believe you think so little of me." Angry, he mirrored my posture. "I was – _am_ – going to come back. And I never thought of you as a conquest. You think I'm that shallow?"

"No! But..." Feeling guilty, I fumbled for words. "Your timing is incredibly bad! What did you think I was going to think?"

"Bad timing. You sound like Kiros." Laguna snorted. "I didn't think you'd get this upset, that's for sure. It's a couple days! I can go away for a couple days if I want to – I was going to tell you about it, but I didn't get a chance before you overheard me. And anyhow, it's not like I need your permission to take a trip, we're not married or anyth..."

My eyes filled with tears even as Laguna stopped and went white, realizing what he'd said. "So that's how it is," I whispered. "Okay. I understand now."

"No! Wait, Raine..." Laguna tried to grab onto me as I pushed past him on my way back into the house, but I shook him off with a hard shove and stalked back to the door. "I didn't mean it that way... Raine, please wait..."

I turned to face Laguna from the doorway. He looked miserable, but I didn't care. "Just shut up, Laguna," I said, numbly. "Shut up and leave me alone." The bang of the door effectively ended the argument, and a few minutes later Laguna's shadow passed by the windows.

My temper had cooled by that evening, but the hurt lingered. Laguna tried his best to talk to me, but there wasn't much I wanted to hear from him. Even Ellone picked up on the strain between us, and she was quieter than usual. I felt sorry for Kiros, caught in the middle. Laguna went back to his house that night, for the first time since Kiros had come back. I missed his presence in the bed next to me, but if I was another notch on the proverbial lipstick case – or whatever the male version of that metaphor was – it was better to start cutting losses now. It didn't make the autumn night any less cold.

The next day, two satchels rested by the door at breakfast. I tried not to look at the scuffed Galbadian-issue bags – Kiros's in perfect repair, and Laguna's a complete mess with popped stitches and badly-attached souvenir patches. I had to laugh at that, even though my heart twisted at the sight. It was so representative of the two of them.

"Are you still mad?" Laguna's voice, uncharacteristically soft, interrupted another surreptitious stare at the bags. "Our train leaves soon. I don't want to go off to the city with you mad at me."

"Laguna…" It was hard to be cross, with those green eyes watching me. It had been lonely without him.

"Elle doesn't understand why Raine and her Uncle Laguna are mad," he continued, reaching for my hand. I let him twine his fingers with mine. "I don't understand either."

Sighing, I gave up. "It's just that…" I bit my lip. "I don't understand why you're going. You stayed here for so long. What's so important about Timber now? Are we not enough?"

"It's not that, not at all." Laguna stepped closer and drew me against his chest. "I love it here with you and Elle. You think I want to stop being Uncle Laguna and leave my two best girls?"

"No…" I replied, against the warmth of his jacket.

"I am going to pick up some stuff from Timber Maniacs while I'm there," Laguna said. "That's not why I'm going, though."

"Why are you going, then?" I asked. Laguna's revelation was a relief, but I was uneasy.

"You'll find out, won't you?" Laguna teased. "I'm not telling."

A little smile began to spread across my face. "Laguna Loire, are you keeping secrets from me?"

"Yes." Laguna kissed me on the forehead. "Kiros and I have to leave soon. Can I have a kiss before I go?"

"I don't know. If you're not telling me something…"

"You'll find out." Laguna tilted my chin up, and there was no more argument. I leaned happily into the kiss, feeling a wonderful sense of rightness enfold me. When the kiss ended, he stood back and looked at me ruefully.

"What's the matter?" I cocked my head at him.

"Oh, nothing. I'm realizing how much I'm going to miss you, even if it is only for a couple days." Laguna smiled and touched my cheek. A whistle sounded from outside, and he bent to pick up the bags. "I better go. Where's Elle? Elle!" he called.

Two little feet scrambled upstairs, and Elle clattered down the stairs and zoomed across the room to attach herself to Laguna's leg. "Uncle Laguna, Uncle Laguna!"

"Umph!" Laguna grunted, as the force of a four-year-old slammed into his leg. "You gonna miss me, kiddo?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Elle let go and held her arms out for a hug. Laguna swung her up into the air, laughing.

"Laguna, the ceiling! Be careful!" I tugged on Laguna's sleeve, but the two of them were ignoring me.

"Don't go away for a long time!" Ellone warned, from her new perch on Laguna's shoulder. "I'll cry if you do!"

"Awww, Elle, I'd never make you cry. It's only a couple days. Is that okay?" Laguna put her back down on the floor. "If I bring you a present, will that make up for it?"

She pretended to consider. "Oh… aaaall riiiight. But don't stay gone!"

Laguna looked over at me. "I promise." The response was to Elle, but I knew he was really saying it to me, and my heart gave a squeeze.

The door opened behind us, and Kiros stuck his head in, annoyed. "Yo! Laguna, are you coming? If we don't leave now, we're going to miss the train."

"All right, all right, keep your shirt on." Laguna shouldered his bag. "Bye, Ellone." He bent and gave her a noisy kiss on the head, and she giggled. "Goodbye, Raine."

"Goodbye, Laguna," I said, and he hugged me hard and kissed me on the neck where Kiros couldn't see.

Kiros was tapping his foot. "Ready?"

"Yep." Laguna sighed and followed him out the door. "Keep the light on for me, willya?"

"Always."


	13. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Alone, for the first time in months. I finished polishing the bar and reflected on how much quieter it was without Laguna around. How, I wondered, had I stood the silence before? I kept waiting for something to happen, for some new escapade or crisis, but there was only the sun shining through the windows onto the new coat of wax I was putting on the bar, and Ellone coloring at one of the pub tables.

Having Laguna and Kiros gone for a few days had given me some time to let the changes of the past few weeks settle in. I spent the days running errands I had been putting off, getting my hair cut, cleaning the houses, and inquiring about school for Ellone next year. It was hard to believe that she would be turning five before too long. It was a mother's constant refrain – the time goes by so fast. I also made a stop at the town clinic for some precautionary measures, because even though nothing permanent had come from my union with Laguna, I wanted to make sure it stayed that way.

Ellone put down her crayons and pouted up at me. "When's Uncle Laguna coming back?"

"I've been wondering that too, sweetheart." I sighed, glancing at the calendar. It had been four days since the duo had departed for Timber, and although I had faith that Laguna meant it when he said he was coming back, he was taking his time. Maybe he was busy with Timber Maniacs, or maybe he was making the rounds of every bar in town. It could be either one.

"I'm bo-ored," Ellone complained, flopping onto the table and knocking some of her crayons onto the floor. "It's no fun without Uncle Laguna around."

"I know, munchkin. He'll be back soon, I promise." I produced a deck of cards from behind the bar. "But, for now, maybe you could settle for playing War with me?"

"Oh, all right," she sighed, clambering up onto a bar stool.

I pretended to be offended. "What's the matter? Good old Raine isn't worth your time anymore? Not even with chocolate milk and a cherry?" Ellone perked up immediately. I gave her the promised treat along with half the deck, and we started to play.

"Ace of spades! What are you going to do about that one?" I teased Ellone, as I turned over the card. Unconcerned, she flipped over an eight of hearts, and reached out to take my card.

"Uncle Laguna says that eight beats one, so you won't get me!" she said, triumphant.

"Hold on a second here," I said. "Aces beat everything!"

"Nope," she replied.

I smiled. "I think Uncle Laguna has been letting you win."

"Uncle Laguna wouldn't do that," Ellone said. "He's bad at cards. He doesn't even know how to play Go Fish right."

I stifled a laugh. If he truly didn't realize that aces were trump, it would explain why Laguna was regularly taken to the cleaners at the soldiers' weekly poker game. "Maybe he can handle Old Maid, then. You could teach him."

"I want him to come ba-ack. How come he had to leave?" Ellone was crossing the line from bored into cranky.

"Now you're whining," I told her. "No whining allowed. Do you want to go play outside?"

"Oh, all right." She let herself down off her perch, and I took her jump rope out of the closet. I picked up a magazine and followed her out to the square.

Ellone started skipping, and I listened to her chant a counting song to herself while I read a gossip article. There was a sidebar on the same page about Julia Heartilly's smash success with "Eyes on Me," with some teasers about a follow-up single, and I looked it over. She might have written a tremendously popular song about my soldier, but I was the one Laguna was spending his nights with. She'd had her chance.

There wasn't much else interesting in the magazine, so I put it down and watched people come and go in the town square. Ellone hopped around the flower mosaic, keeping her feet in the dark or the light areas, depending on where she was in her invented game. It was a lovely September day, and there were a few pleasure boaters out on the river, punting by the town under the bridge. Some of the flowers in the pots and window boxes on the houses across the square were starting to fade. Soon it would be time to bring in the chrysanthemums and marigolds for a late-season burst of color before winter set in again. I amused myself by planning out what blooms would go where, sketching out layouts in the margins of my magazine.

Elle saw him before I did, preoccupied as I was. Her happy shriek bounced off the buildings, and she scampered off towards the bridge as fast as her feet would take her. "Uncle Laguna, Uncle Laguna!"

"Hey, kiddo!" Laguna called back, dropping down to her level. She barreled into him, and he let her knock him down, laughing. "Augh, don't kill me!" Her delighted giggles echoed across the square. Laguna picked himself up and hoisted Ellone onto his shoulders, and she wound her arms around his neck.

"You were gone a long time," I heard her say as the two of them made their way over to the pub. "Me 'n Raine were sad without you! Don't go away again, okay?"

"Whatever you say, Elle!" Laguna deposited Ellone in front of the pub and sprawled out, dropping his bag on the ground. "Hi, Raine!"

"You doofus." I smacked him in the arm with my magazine. "You took your time getting home! Where have you been?"

"Such a nice welcome from you! Did you miss me or somethin'?" he replied, giving me a coy glance. I didn't dignify his comment with a reply. "I'll take that as a yes."

Ellone tugged on Laguna's pants. "What did you bring me?" she asked, begging shamelessly.

"What, having your Uncle Laguna back isn't enough?" Ellone shot him a dark look, and Laguna heaved a big sigh. "No one appreciates me for myself." He dragged his satchel over and opened it up, rummaging around. "Oh, fine, it's in here somewhere."

"Please don't tell me that you put a gift for Elle next to all your dirty laundry," I groaned.

"No, it's in a plastic bag, I'm not that gross. Hah, here it is." Laguna produced a beautifully wrapped and somewhat squished box for Ellone. "Here! All the way from the city, just for you."

The lovely wrapping job was gone in seconds as Ellone demolished the brightly-colored paper. The smaller box inside gave her more trouble, and she let me open it for her as she danced in impatience. "Oh, pretty, pretty, pretty!" she sang, when it opened to reveal a sparkly star-shaped necklace – nothing valuable, but perfect for a little girl. "Can I wear it now?"

"Of course, silly," I said. "Come here and I'll put it on you." Ellone quieted long enough for me to clasp her gift around her neck. "What do we say to Uncle Laguna for bringing you a present?"

"Thank you, Uncle Laguna," she recited in a singsong voice, before throwing her arms around his neck and giving him a big kiss on the cheek.

"I saw it in a jewelry store," he told her. "I thought, who do I know who looks like a princess from the stars? That has to be Elle!"

Ellone held out her gift so it caught the afternoon light. "Elle is a star princess, yay! Look, Raine, it's shiny!"

I examined the crystal pendant while Ellone bounced with excitement. "Very pretty, little princess. Be careful with that, now. Uncle Laguna went through a lot of trouble to get that for you." I turned to him, curious. "What were you doing in a jewelry store?"

"Getting a present for Elle, of course!" he said, "What else would I do there?" Elle had picked up her jump rope and was back to skipping nearby, making up happy nonsense rhymes about princesses who fell from the stars. He turned to face me. "I got a kiss from Elle, but I didn't get one from you."

I gave him a flirtatious look. "I don't know. What kind of present did you bring me?" Laguna choked suddenly and hunched over his leg. I stood up, alarmed. "Laguna, I was joking. I wasn't expecting a gift, really!" Was that his bad leg, cramping so badly? I couldn't tell. "Are you all right?"

"Y-yeah. Sure. Just um… give me a minute." Laguna hissed through his teeth and stretched the offending leg out in front of him.

"Are you nervous about something?" I asked, puzzled.

"No, no, nothing. Everything's okay." He stood up to stretch, grimacing in pain. "Man, that smarts."

Laguna's cramping leg wasn't the only thing out of place. Belatedly, I realized that Kiros wasn't with him. "By the way, where is Kiros? Didn't he come back with you?"

"Nah. He stayed in Timber, and then he's going on to Deling City. He's gonna travel around, I think." Laguna was over his cramp, and he sat back down next to me, shoulder-to-shoulder. "He wants to go hang out with Ward for a while. He thought maybe I'd go with him, but yeah, I have other plans."

"Oh," I said, discomfited. "We didn't get a chance to say goodbye. I hope we didn't offend him in some way."

"No, that's not it. He'll be back sooner or later. Don't worry." Laguna gave me a reassuring smile. "Where's that kiss, hey?"

I leaned over and kissed him lightly. "It's good to see you. Elle was right; it was lonely with you away. She was an absolute pill without you around to play with. Are you hungry?"

"Staaaaaarving." Laguna patted his stomach for emphasis.

"Call Elle in, and I'll get you a snack." I stood and extended a hand to him. He took it and followed me up, then enfolded me in a bear hug.

"You don't know how good it is to get back," he said, resting his cheek on mine.

"Oh!" That from Ellone, who had left off skipping and was staring at us with wide eyes. Too late, I realized that up until then the two of us had been refraining from overt displays of affection in front of Ellone, but now the cat was out of the bag. Her face lit up. "I knew it! You can't hide from Elle! Raine loves Uncle Laguna," she said, pointing at me, "And Uncle Laguna loves Raine!"

There was no point in denying the obvious, so I didn't try. "Does that make you happy, Elle?" I asked.

"We're going to be together now, aren't we," she said. It wasn't a question.

"I think so, Elle," Laguna said. "As long as Raine lets me stay!"

"So. There's only one thing left to do!"

"An' what's that?" Laguna said, humoring her.

"Get married!" she announced, beaming.

"Don't start, Elle," I warned her, steering her back into the pub. "And don't you start anything either, Laguna."

"What? What am I starting, and why am I in trouble this time?" Laguna followed me inside.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "Never mind. Forget it. Bring your satchel in, would you? If you leave it in the back, I'll put your wash in for you later."

"You're gonna do my laundry for me?" Laguna was pleased. "Why?"

"I'm happy to see you, so I'm feeling generous. Enjoy it while it lasts." I ducked into the kitchen to find Laguna something to eat and returned with a plate. He was busy telling Ellone about the train ride into the city.

"…So the train was full of weird people, like gamblers and magicians and fortune-tellers! But when they heard my story about the princess I had to save, they said they'd help me – for a price." I leaned back against the bar to listen to Laguna's wild tale, which had Ellone enraptured. For all his prattle, Laguna was an excellent storyteller, and he probably would make a good writer indeed if he could manage to get his ideas onto a page.

"What was the price?" Ellone leaned forward.

"_My soul_," he whispered dramatically. "But I told them they could have Kiros's instead." Ellone giggled.

"Now that is a big fib," I said, slipping Laguna's lunch in front of him. "You'd never do that, even in a story."

"Eh, I guess you're right." Laguna picked up his sandwich. "Anyway. People like that, they like a good game, y'know? So, I said I'd play a game with 'em, and if I lost, they could take what they wanted. But if I won, they had to help me by telling me whether they'd seen the princess."

"Why did the princess get stolen by goblins anyway?" Ellone asked.

"Because of her special necklace. I think… maybe… it looked just like yours! Only she could make it work so that the stars shone at night. Everyone was missing the stars, and the queen was sad because she couldn't find her little princess, so she had to ask brave Sir Laguna to help."

Ellone kicked her feet. "I thought queens had lots of knights. How come she didn't send them all?"

"Yeah, but I'm the best," he told her. "When you want to get the job done, you have to send the best guy, right? The hero has to be strong and brave and dashing, and those other dudes didn't fit the bill. And I don't hafta wear armor, either, 'cause I have a gun, so I can be real light on my feet and fast!"

I pictured Laguna in full armor, tripping over his own greaves. "As long as you didn't have to follow a map to get to the goblins," I teased.

Laguna refused to rise to the bait. "Goblins are pretty stinky, so all I had to do was follow my nose. They'd turn up eventually."

"Speaking of stinky, could you please put your bag in the back after you've finished eating?" I checked the clock on the wall. "It's almost three, so I have to get started on opening the pub for the night."

"Is it that late? It's been a long day. Man, I'm wiped out. That walk back from the station gets longer every time. I couldn't find anyone to hitch with either. How do you get back from there when you go into town?"

I shrugged. "Call a taxi, or rent a car. Sometimes I can get someone in town to help me out."

"Yeah, well, doubt they'll bend over backwards for me. I gotta think of something else." Laguna stood and picked up his dishes. "I'll take care of these." He looked up at the clock. "Hm, isn't it..."

The words _time for Ellone's nap_ remained unspoken, to avoid the inevitable protest to the contrary. "Yes, and if you really want to be helpful, you can take care of that for me."

"Hey Elle, you want to hear the rest of my story?" Laguna asked. Ellone nodded vigorously, banging her feet on her chair. "Meet me upstairs, and I'll tell you how it ends, okay?"

"Okay!" She hopped down and bounced up the stairs. "Does it have a happy ending?"

"You'll find out," he called after her, bringing his dishes into the kitchen.

"Thanks for that," I said. "I'm running behind."

"Eh, don't worry about it, I'll take care of her." Laguna waved a dismissing hand. "Go get started."

While they went upstairs, I checked the refrigerators under the bar and then the beer taps. One of the kegs was almost empty, gauging by the amount of foam I was getting, so I poured off what I could and left it for Laguna. If there was anything he could be counted on for, it was to finish any beer that looked lonely.

It took me a few minutes to disconnect the hoses, and then I hurried off to the back room to roll in a new one. I rolled up my sleeves and put on a pair of work gloves – moving the kegs around was hard and dirty work, but I was used to it.

"Hey. Ellone is in bed. Need any help?" Laguna poked his head in, beer in hand.

"Your timing is perfect. That would be great. Could you bring in a keg of the Plumed Hat Ale for me?" I stashed my gloves on a nearby shelf and reflected again how handy it was to have a man around the house.

"Yeah, sure. Which one is that again?"

I tossed Laguna his gloves so he wouldn't have to get his hands dirty either and motioned towards the far corner. "It's over there somewhere. It's labeled; you'll find it." While he picked his way towards the back of the room, I wound my way around the kegs and the shelves of supplies, mentally taking inventory of what I was going to have to order in the next month or two. I pulled down a plastic barrel of pretzels that was looking suspiciously low. "Have you been filching snacks out of here again?"

Laguna feigned innocence. "It wasn't me!"

"Then we have some very hungry squirrels around here." I shook the barrel at him. "This is for paying customers, not for that bottomless pit you call a stomach."

"Maybe it was Kiros," Laguna suggested. "He likes pretzels." I rolled my eyes.

He walked the keg up next to the door, and I dusted my hands off and made as if to leave. Before I could go anywhere, Laguna got in my way. He shut the door behind him and slid the bolt over, and it was clear he had something else on his mind besides moving beer around. "What are you up to, Laguna Loire?" I murmured, sliding back against the wall.

"That wasn't much of a greeting out there," he said.

"Mmm." I smiled back at him. "What would you have preferred?"

"Depends on how generous you're really feeling," Laguna purred, and lowered his mouth to mine. I returned his kiss hungrily, realizing even as I did so that we were in a dangerous situation. Ellone was asleep, the back room was secluded, and we'd been apart. Not for long, but enough to start feeling… anxious. Laguna pressed me back towards the wall, pinning me there, and I flattened my hands against his chest. He shrugged out of his jacket, leaving no doubt as to what he was after, as if there had been any in the first place. My heart beat faster.

He unbuttoned the top of my shirt and pushed my collar away from my neck, kissing his way down to my collarbone, and I decided that doing something naughty in the back room was a bad idea and tremendously thrilling at the same time. After all, I had missed him in a multitude of ways. I reached for his belt buckle, and he responded by starting to ruck my skirt up around my waist.

"Raine?" Ellone was calling from the tavern. "Raine, where are you? Where is Uncle Laguna?"

Laguna hung his head like a man who has been handed the keys to paradise but instead drops them through a grate. "Dammit!"

"Oh, _fergodsake_," I hissed. "You said she was napping!"

"She was almost asleep when I left!" he protested. "Oh man, I almost had beer and sex at the same time…"

I swore out of frustration. "She's been on pins and needles waiting for you to get back. I shouldn't be surprised. Go on, get the keg." I hastily rearranged my clothing and my hair.

"I'm not going to be able to walk upright for an hour," he complained. "This is so not fair."

"Then wait in here until you can! You know how to hook up the taps." I hurried out to see what Ellone wanted.

"Where were you?" she demanded, crossly.

"Getting ready for tonight, and you are supposed to be in bed, young lady," I said, sternly.

"I'm not tired. Want to play with Uncle Laguna," Ellone said.

_Join the crowd_, I thought. "If you don't take a nap, you're going to bed early, and that's a promise." She stuck her tongue out at me. "And _you_," I said to Laguna, who was making his way to the bar with the needed keg, "…are a bad influence."

"Oh, she's mad again," Laguna said to Ellone. She giggled. "We both got in trouble!"

I gritted my teeth, aware that Laguna was enjoying every moment of my rattled state, because he knew damn well he had caused it. "Behave yourself. _Both_ of you. Upstairs, Elle. Now." She stomped off, whining all the way, and I knew she was tired despite her protests. I put my hands on my hips, exasperated.

Laguna dropped the wrench he'd been using to hook up the lines under the bar, and I glared over at him on my way up the stairs. "That was almost worth it to hear you swear back there, Raine," he laughed. "You'd kiss me with that mouth?"

"Later for you, pal," I said, annoyed.

"Promise?" he called, and I slammed the door to the upstairs behind me.

There wasn't time for shenanigans the rest of the evening. The pub was crowded enough to keep me running, and either I didn't notice where Laguna was most of the time or he had made himself scarce. It wasn't until I had shooed the last patron out that I thought to look for him. He had been around before Ellone went to bed, because I remembered him going upstairs to tuck her in, but I hadn't seen him since. Maybe he was over at his house, unpacking from his trip, or maybe he'd fallen asleep.

I tossed my cleaning towels into the laundry bin and surveyed the bar area. Nothing too out of place, and everything else could wait until the morning. I lined the chairs up around the tables and straightened the bottles behind the bar. It was too late at night for me to be sifting through Laguna's dirty socks, so my promise of doing his wash for him would have to wait until the next day. My legs were tired and my back ached, and it was past time to turn in.

There was a dim light coming from the second floor. I climbed the stairs and peeked over the railing, and there was Laguna, sprawled over the sofa and sound asleep. Scattered around him were several pages of writing, and a few more rested in his lap with a pen. I was irked to find him asleep – after our rendezvous in the back room, I'd half expected to find him waiting for me in bed with a rose in his teeth. He had clearly been hard at work on something else.

Curious, I tiptoed over and retrieved some of the fallen papers, which were written in Laguna's chicken scratch. The pages were out of order, and his scrawl made them hard to read, but eventually I started to put together a narrative about the perils of how drinking too much will change one's life in unexpected ways. I shuffled through and realized the story was about… Julia? Laguna had spent time with Julia, in her hotel room?

I considered rolling up the papers and giving him a fast smack in the head with them. "What is it about you, anyway?" I demanded of his sleeping form. "You can't hold a basic conversation with an adult without making an ass out of yourself, but you've bagged every woman from here to Deling City?"

Laguna stirred at the sound of my scolding, and it took him several moments to wake up enough to register that I was sitting across from him in an armchair, and that I had his manuscript in my hand. When he saw the gathered papers, he groaned. "Aw, Raine, you didn't read that, did you?" He closed his eyes again and put an arm over his face. "You weren't supposed to see those."

"Then don't fall asleep on the couch with your story all over the floor," I retorted. "Look at this mess!"

"I had a long day! The train ride was tiring!" he protested. "I promise you, it wasn't on purpose."

I refused to be dissuaded. "By the way, you never told me you slept with Julia!"

Laguna sat up and rubbed his eyes. "That's because I _didn't_ sleep with Julia. Didn't you read that part along with all the rest? The whole point is that me and Kiros and Ward all got loaded and instead of me doing what she probably invited me up there for, I had more wine and slept off a drunk. Super romantic, huh?"

"How charming. Good thing for you, too, or you'd be spending the night outside, I swear," I said.

"That's why the title of the article is 'Alcohol Will Change You,'" he said. "If I hadn't sacked out in Julia's room, I might have tried harder to get back to her, and then you wouldn't be sitting here all pissed off over something that didn't happen."

"Hmph." I dropped the papers I was holding on top of the pages already in Laguna's lap. "Is this nonsense what you brought to Timber to show the chief editor?"

"It's not nonsense, it's called piece-of-life," he told me, crossly. "Kiros got me an interview with and I brought it with me. But, it got rejected." Laguna ran a hand through his hair, dejected at the memory. "He said to try again when I'd gotten some more experience."

"_Slice_-of-life," I corrected. "No wonder. Your article is full of spelling errors and malapropisms. Fix it up and maybe you'll have a better shot."

Laguna sighed. "Isn't that what an editor is for? That's his job!"

"No, it's your job to get your writing as good as you can before you put it on his desk, and then he takes it from there," I returned, tartly. "Maybe you write from the heart, but then you have to go back and fix the mistakes."

"Aaah, enough with this for tonight!" Laguna shuffled his pages into a pile and stuffed them into a folder. "If you think my writing needs that much work, then you can help me correct it, Miss Criticality."

"I agree. It's late." I stood up and shook out my skirt. "And yes, I would be happy to help you. I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted, and I'm going to bed."

"Sounds like a plan." Laguna started to follow me down the hallway and stopped. "I can stay, right?"

I gave him a long look. "If you have to ask that by now, you haven't been paying attention." He seemed pleased with the answer, but I didn't stay around long enough to continue the conversation. A hot soak in the tub was too much to resist after standing all night.

Laguna was already curled up in bed when I finished, the comforter piled up over his legs. I hung up my bathrobe and slid in next to him. "Do I get any blankets tonight, or are you going to steal them all again?" I asked, tugging on the sheets.

"I could ask you the same thing, space invader." He pushed the pile of blankets towards me.

"_Thank_ you. Can you also give me that pillow on the floor next to you?" I arched my back and stretched. "These nights are hell on my back. I have to get more help around this place."

"I can help," Laguna offered. "What do you want done?"

"No offense, love, but you wouldn't make a very good waiter." I took the proffered pillow and stuffed it behind me.

"That's the first time you called me that," Laguna said, cocking his head at me.

"Called you what?"

"Anything besides my name or something like 'you idiot,'" he said. "I like it. Anyway, I know what I can do for you. Roll over." I gave him a look. "Seriously! I'm not gonna try any funny business. You'll like it, I promise."

He looked so earnest that I couldn't say no. "Whatever you say," I answered doubtfully. I settled myself on top of a pillow and waited.

"This'd be easier if you weren't wearin' anything, but..." He bent over me, pushed my pajamas out of the way, and he started to knead the knotted muscles in my lower back. "How's that?"

I closed my eyes in bliss. "Very, very, nice. Where did you get this particular talent?"

Laguna chuckled. "Not telling."

"You never stop surprising me." The rhythm of his hands was soothing, and I found myself drifting off to sleep, which was not what I'd had in mind. Fortunately for me, it wasn't what he had in mind either, because the hands on my back began to wander in a very distracting way. I shook myself awake and turned over to face him.

"I thought you weren't going to try any funny business," I murmured.

"Oh, yeah, I did start something earlier, didn't I?" Laguna pressed forward to relieve me of my shirt. "It's all part of my plan."

"Did your plan include having Ellone wake up at a bad time?" I asked, returning the favor with his pajama pants.

"No. But it definitely had somethin' to do with this," he said. "And you did say later."

"I did." I slid my arms around his neck and kissed him hard. "I have to give you a reason to come home, don't I?"

"It's a good reason," he answered, and I hooked one leg over his hip and we fell together into the blankets.

Later, with our itch nicely scratched, I lay with my head on his chest. The day had been so busy that we hadn't had any time to spend together. "How was the trip into the city?" I asked.

Laguna yawned. "Tolerable. We took the express, so we didn't hafta stop at every teeny town between here and Deling City. Tell you one thing, if I'm gonna go anywhere from here on a regular basis, I'm gettin' a car. The walk to the station is too damn long."

This was news. "You need to go back on a regular basis?"

"Maybe. If my stuff starts selling, that is. I mean, monster hunting is fun and all, but it doesn't make us a whole lot of money. And, if I stick around here, I have to pitch in with you and Elle, right?" Laguna touched the tip of my nose. "Besides, you could come too."

"Us? Leave Winhill? I'm not sure about that," I replied. "What about Esthar?"

"What _about_ Esthar? If you're trying to protect Elle, then moving her around is actually a good idea," Laguna said. "They move Deling around all the time, or someone would have shot him by now. Besides, I'm not talking about going forever. We could all go, like for a weekend or something. Haven't you ever been away from town?"

"Well, yes," I answered. "All of us kids would go to Timber for the weekend, before they moved away and I didn't. I used to visit my friend in Deling City, before Elle's parents died. It's a lot harder to travel with Elle in tow."

"Y'know, she's old enough now that it wouldn't be so much of a problem, and I bet she'd have a great time. We could go to Deling City - there's no way Esthar would show their faces there, because they'd get their butts kicked. I know all the best places, all the best bars -" Laguna's enthusiasm bubbled up, and I found myself considering it.

"Hm. Piano bars?" I teased him. "Not that we're bringing Elle to a bar..."

Laguna groaned and rolled his eyes. "Aw, knock it off, Raine, she's the one who has to be jealous of you now."

"I know. I'm sorry." I settled down against him and wrapped my arm around his waist. "If I said I'd sleep on it, would that be enough?"

"Fair enough. As long as you mean it about sleep, 'cause now I'm _really _tired." Laguna yawned again. I got up long enough to wriggle back into my nightclothes, then settled down against his back. "G'night, babes."

"That's a terrible nickname, Laguna," I murmured into his hair.

"Fine, I'll think of something else," he muttered hazily, and then we were asleep.

* * *

_A/N - __Thanks to Jaina for the beta read! I'm looking for a beta - drop me a PM if you're interested._


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